


Gundam SEED: Sunder

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Gundam SEED: FAITH's Edge Trilogy [2]
Category: Gundam SEED
Genre: Alternate Universe, Athrun Zala – Litmus Test for ZAFT Security, Author Broke The Laws of Physics Yet Again, Destroying Stuff In Space – One Mobile Suit at a Time, Flashbacks, Gen, Inspired by Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge, May Be Some OOC Moments, Not GSD Compliant, Patching A Giant Glaring Plot Hole from GS, Schemers and Dreamers, Space Opera, There's Lots of Talking and Ass-Kicking, Uses Elements from GSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-22 19:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 100,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10703280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: War, peace, rebellion - there comes a time when those who guard the peace across Earth and the PLANTs will have to face the consequences of their actions during the Bloody Valentine War, as legacies are sundered.  From the fallen ashes are secrets that should have never been brought to light, but could save them once and for all.Sequel to Gundam SEED: Reverie's Edge.  Not canon compliant with Gundam SEED: Destiny (or associated materials).  Alternate Universe.





	1. Prologue: C.E. 85

**Author's Note:**

> First Publishing: April 2017, AO3  
> Disclaimer: All characters (except for the ones created by me) belong to their respective owners. No profit is being made from this work of fiction.

**Prologue: C.E. 85**

 

The room wasn't kept intentionally dark, but due to her rather intense concentration on the tasks that she needed to finish before she would allow herself to go home, only the illumination of the television and the lamp at her desk lit the room. A sudden noise of what sounded like a body hitting the door snapped Eileen Canaver out of her fugue, as she looked up and immediately waved her hand across the sensor near the edge of her desk to bring all lights to full. She squinted slightly at the sudden brightness, but before she could reach into her right hand side's desk drawer, the door to her office swished open and two guards that had been stationed at the door fell in.

Not a moment after those guards tumbled in, a stranger dressed in civilian clothing with a balaclava over his face entered. The civilian was dragging someone in as well, though Eileen did see that there was a gun in his gloved left hand that was held towards the ground. She slowly put her own hands up – if the intruder was able to knock her best guards out, then summoning more was going to do little good. Besides, she thought she recognized the face under the bruises that the intruder was dragging, which piqued her curiosity even further.

As the door to her office slid close, the intruder dumped the unconscious person he had been dragging rather unceremoniously onto the floor directly in front of her desk. She saw him safe the gun before tucking it somewhere along his back. However, when the intruder finally reached up and removed his balaclava, Eileen knew that she shouldn't have been as surprised as she initially had been when he had burst into her office in such a threatening manner.

“Athrun Zala,” she stated, stepping away from her desk.

The former ZAFT mobile suit pilot looked generally the same since the last time she had seen him, except with longer, scraggly hair that almost touched his shoulders. However, those eyes of his held an ocean of grief, rage, hurt, and hostility that would have sent people scurrying to hide. Even when she had looked into Patrick Zala's eyes, into the madness that had consumed him as he had arrested dissenting members of the PLANT Council, she didn't see such wild emotions such as she saw now.

“This is the person who killed Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Attha, Chairwoman,” he answered, kicking the woman on the ground none-too-gently in the stomach.

“Dr. Lisa Hadrian?” she asked, stepping fully around so that she could see the bruised and clearly beaten doctor a little more clearly. “But she's a renowned physician--”

“Was,” Zala spat out. “Until she administered a nearly untraceable radioactive material into the tea that Cagalli had drunk, after she was admitted to the hospital Hadrian worked at.”

Eileen's eyes widened in horror. She had heard the official reports regarding Chief Representative Attha's death – she had been poisoned. Intelligence reports from her own people had pointed it to some possible radioactive material being administered. Considering that Orb was home to both Coordinator and Naturals, along with being the site of long-ago atomic tests, no one knew if that had been accidental or not. Her intelligence officers had speculated that if it had been intentional poison, the culprit would most likely never be caught, because of how difficult it had been for doctors to figure out what was wrong with Attha. The doctors had only considered poison shortly before Attha had died.

“How...?” she began.

“It doesn't matter how, Chairwoman,” Zala stated. “What matters is that you have all the evidence in front of you to prosecute this doctor for the death of Cagalli.” She saw him pull out a small disk from within his jacket's inner pockets and tossed it to her. She caught it and turned it over in her hands as he said, “There's more evidence for the prosecutor.”

“But why the PLANTs, Commander?” she asked, looking up. “Dr. Hadrian is known to be a citizen of Orb. Surely--”

“Don't pretend to be ignorant, Chairwoman,” Zala snapped. “I don't have that kind of patience anymore. You know why.”

She pursed her lips for a moment as her eyes narrowed slightly. She could tell that grief was pushing Zala to be like this, but he still had a rational mind to not have outright killed the doctor when he clearly had the chance. It was no secret that Zala, under his alias as Alex Dino, had been Attha's bodyguard and lover. Now, two years after her death, he was at Eileen's door, but for what? Surely not just because he wanted Coordinators to judge the renowned _Coordinator_ physician who had poisoned Attha. No... she knew Zala's true reputation – he wanted something in return for a chance at proper justice to be carried out against Dr. Hadrian.

“Earth and Orb will not be happy--” she began.

“I don't care,” he interrupted.

She thinned her lips and looked at him for a long moment, and he returned her stare with one of equal intensity. Yes, there was a torrent of raw emotions swimming in those eyes, but that fire – the fire she had seen in him all those years ago, was still burning brightly. She had chosen right to convince him of becoming the peacekeeper he had been. Clasping her hands together with the disk held in between, she finally said, “I'll make sure Dr. Hadrian gets the death penalty. But...”

“Thank you,” Zala quietly answered. “One day, Chairwoman, there will be an even larger war to come. Until that day arrives, I suggest that you make sure your base of power is solidified, because extremists on both sides, Natural and Coordinators will come after you and every other person who followed Cagalli's ideals. Dr. Hadrian is only the beginning...”

“I'm surprised that you think so highly of me,” she said as the former pilot stepped away from the unconscious body of the doctor, and made his way to the entrance to her office.

He paused and turned back slightly, saying, “Don't flatter yourself, Chairwoman. You're just a more tolerable leader than my father was. If it weren't for FAITH, then I would have never brought the doctor to you. Consider yourself warned.”

Without another word to her, she saw him put his balaclava back on and left. She looked over towards the doctor before bringing up the disk in her hands. Glancing back at the door where her two guards were still laying unconscious, she muttered, “What exactly are you planning to do in the future, Commander Athrun Zala of ZAFT Special Forces?”

 

~*~*~*~

 


	2. Chapter 1: Beyond the Blood Red Horizon

**Chapter 1: Beyond the Blood Red Horizon**

_C.E. 96, Heliopolis II..._

 

“Breaking news on Global News Channel: the so-called Songstress of Peace, Lacus Clyne, as been placed under house arrest on Heliopolis II...”

“Sources are saying that Kira Yamato of Orb, one of the architects of the Heliopolis II Project, had ordered two new nuclear-powered mobile suit to be built...”

“... direct violation of the Earth-PLANT Armistice Treaty, which forbids any improvement or building upon nuclear-powered mobile suits...”

“Athrun Zala, son of the former Chairman of the PLANTs, Patrick Zala, is confirmed to be alive...”

“Clyne had apparently been complicit in the building of these new mobile suits, designated _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_...”

“We would like to remind viewers that it was Patrick Zala who ordered the building and firing of Genesis during the Bloody Valentine War...”

“...potentially can charge Zala with desertion from ZAFT, though the hounds are at the door, crying out for the charge of war crimes...”

“Yamato, a former OMNI pilot and Coordinator who fought with the Naturals during the war, was already pardoned with the crew of the _Archangel_...”

~~~

Lenore Yula tightened her grip on the bottle of water in her right hand as she saw the empty podium in front of Heliopolis II's primary courthouse fill the television screen. The sounds of reporters murmuring in the background, along with the clicking sounds of shutters being tested, filled the silence that rang in this and other rooms on board the ZAFT warship, _Bartolomeo_. It was not out of anger that she had a white-knuckled grip on the bottle, but rather a great amount of fear that she tried to hard to hide. However, since being ordered back onto the ship, she had not heard a word from her commander.

Instead, she had to listen to pundits, to various news networks both small and big, and their – in her opinion – outrageous analysis of what had happened. A general gag order had been released as soon as the first of the news networks had picked up on the arrest of Lacus Clyne, but it was a little too late. It had been three days since the arrest of Lacus Clyne, and the pilots of _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_ – and today was the day that Chairwoman Canaver of the PLANTs, Chief Representative Seiran of Orb, and Prime Minister Stephanopolos of the Eurasian Federation would finally give their official statements.

When the camera suddenly tracked the three leaders coming up from the side of the steps, surrounded by armed security guards, a flurry of noise from the reporters present rose up. Unsurprisingly, it was Chief Representative Seiran who took the podium first, after all, Orb was a neutral country and the colony was a part of Orb. Heliopolis II was the closest neutral territory they could place the crew of the _Eternal_ and the two mobile suit pilots under guard, without making any other country on Earth or the PLANTs uneasy.

“I'll get right to the point,” Seiran stated, looking quite grim, unlike how she remembered him looking overconfident whenever he spoke to the public. “We have placed Lacus Clyne and Kira Yamato under house arrest for the violation of the Earth-PLANT Armistice Treaty. Two mobile suits, powered by nuclear cores, were built by them and the crew of the _Eternal_. The mobile suits were designated using ZAFT identifiers in an apparent effort to disguise their true intent. Ms. Clyne, Mr. Yamato, and the other pilot will remain at Heliopolis II until details can be worked out between Earth and the PLANTs as to what further charges will be brought up against them.”

“So is it true, Chief Representative, that the other pilot is Athrun Zala?” a correspondent immediately asked as soon as Seiran had paused.

“Yes,” Seiran flatly answered--

“Here,” Lenore heard a closer voice say from her right as she looked up and briefly tuned out whatever else the leader of Orb was saying. Her fellow pilot, Andrew Barton, was holding out a squishy ball of sorts.

“You'll break the bottle, Lenore,” he said, as she felt him try to tug the water bottle out of her grip. Blinking half in surprise and in embarrassment, she let the bottle go. It floated slightly away, but in return, she felt him slip the squishy ball into her hand.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“You don't have to do this alone,” she heard him say. “I... we're all a team. You're not alone.”

Nodding, she returned her attention to the news conference as she heard the tail end of Seiran saying, “... details of it to Chairwoman Canaver.”

The leader of Orb then stepped away and Canaver replaced him. She looked out into the sea of faces for a brief moment before saying, “Yes, we have confirmed that Commander Athrun Zala of ZAFT Special Forces is alive. He had been living under the alias of Alex Dino for the past twenty-five years, and by all rights, has been a model citizen of Orb. Therefore, I will consider him a citizen of Orb and under Chief Representative Seiran's jurisdiction. However, with regards to his dereliction of duty to ZAFT during the war, that is another matter that is still under consideration. I have no comment at the moment with regards to that.”

“Chairwoman Canaver!” another reporter shouted out at the moment Canaver paused in her speech, “What about the fact that those of the Special Forces reports directly to you? Does that mean Zala was always working for you?”

Canaver frowned before saying, “Might I remind you, and your viewers that Commander Zala was appointed to that position _before_ I took office. That it was Chairman Zala who appointed him, and that there were witnesses who witnessed his arrest for the dereliction of duty. That is what is being considered here, because by all accounts, Commander Zala deserted his post.”

“Surely you are not considering the same pardon that was given to Lacus Clyne and the crew of the _Eternal_ after the war, are you Chairwoman?” the same reporter derisively asked. “That man carried out the will of the people, the will of his father, Chairman Zala! He's a war criminal--”

“If there are no other questions,” Canaver began, cutting the reporter off before he could continue on his opinionated tirade.

“What about Mr. Yamato?” yet another reporter asked. “He's been pardoned once with the crew of the _Archangel_. Are any of you going to take that into consideration or are these completely separate charges?”

Canaver stepped back and allowed Stephanopolos to take the podium. The Eurasian Federation leader cleared his throat before saying, “With the exception of Commander Zala, we are considering Ms. Clyne and Mr. Yamato's charges separate from their previous actions or pardons. That is why they are under house arrest.”

“Prime Minister, why did they build two new mobile suits? And what are you going to do about them?”

“Neither my compatriots or I can comment on those at the moment,” Stephanopolos stated in a succinct tone. “But we can say that they are secured.” The Prime Minister then looked over towards the other two before nodding. “That is all the time we have,” he stated, looking back out into the sea of reporters. “Thank you.”

A chorus of shouted questions accompanied the departure of the three leaders, but before it could rise in volume, the television was abruptly shut off. Lenore found herself breathing a little easier, though it was Dalton who broke the silence by saying, “Well, shit. They should fucking consider all of Commander Zala's actions _after_ the damn war. Especially since ZAFT owe him big for all the mobile suit designs they brought from Morgenroete.”

“What?” Alice asked. “Commander Zala designed mobile suits for Morgenroete? I thought he was just one of the maintenance engineers or something.”

“Haven't you looked at the blueprints for all four of our suits?” Dalton said. “They're all signed by 'A.D.' or 'A.Z.' Could never tell if the D was a Z or vice versa. Zala designed the suits, Morgenroete sold the designs to what... offset their cost on something...”

“The space station they built with the Junk Guild,” Lenore quietly spoke up. “I think Morgenroete also sold some designs to OMNI. _Silverbird_ and _Albion_ look like some early designs I've seen before.”

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room as the four pilots looked which ever way, unsure as to how to proceed. While all of them had been utterly surprised at the revelation that Athrun Zala was still alive, Lenore had wanted to right then and there teleport back in time to stop her father from revealing who he was. He had a life, he had both her and her brother back, and he had peace.

What she didn't understand and wished that she could go ask him at the moment was why he had thrown it all away at that moment. Seiran and the others could have arrested 'Alex Dino' and no one would have been the wiser. Why had her father chosen to declare himself alive, much less display the Special Forces pin for everyone to see?

A three-toned beep over the ship's com systems alerted them to a ship-wide broadcast. A moment later, the com crackled as an officer said, “Joule Team report to shuttle hangar bay. Joule Team report to shuttle hangar bay.”

Lenore sighed as she saw her teammates shrug slightly, and followed them out. They passed by several crew members, some of whom now did double takes as she floated by. It didn't escape her notice though that both Dalton and Alice had slowed down slightly to be closer to her, while behind her, Andrew hovered rather protectively as they made their way to the hangar bay. While none of them gave their opinions on the fact that her largest secret was revealed, she was grateful for their silent support. However, it didn't completely ease her fears.

When they got to the shuttle hangar bay, they were directed onto one of the three shuttles that the _Bartolomeo_ carried. As soon as they boarded, they realized they were not alone. The door was sealed behind them, but Lenore and her teammates were focused on the fact that their commanding officer, Captain Yzak Joule, was already sitting at one of the seats. She saw him raise a hand and wave for all of them to take a seat as shuttle started to move.

Silently, they sat scattered, though Lenore didn't know whether or not she was annoyed or touched by the fact Andrew sat directly next to her, as if shielding her from anything coming up or down the aisle of the shuttle. It didn't really matter where any of them were sitting at the moment – if someone wanted to shoot the shuttle out of space, they were dead anyways.

As soon as they were out of the minor gravitational grasp of the ship and on their way to Heliopolis II, it was Alice who broke the silence by asking, “You recognized Commander Zala during that briefing on the Junius 7 Memorial Station, didn't you, sir?”

Lenore didn't know what her teammate was talking about, but she could only assume it had something to do with the insanely strange transportation through time that had taken her and three others to C.E. 73. That had been... a blessing in disguise, she decided. And one that she would have never traded for anything else. To see her mother again, even if it was before she had become her mother, and her father before he was weighed down by the burdens that she knew that she would never fully understand... it was something that she would treasure forever, regardless of what happened now.

“Why didn't you say anything, sir?” Alice continued to ask.

“Why disturb a man's retirement from the battlefield?” their captain answered.

“Did you fight with him during the war, Captain Joule?” Dalton asked.

“Yes,” their captain answered after a moment of silence as Lenore saw him turn slightly in his seat so they only saw a silvered profile of his face. “Your father as well, Elsmann.” Lenore was not the only one to blink in utter surprise at their captain's words. It seemed that Alice Joule, despite being the daughter of their commander, did not know either – she had as gobsmacked of an expression as Dalton carried. “The three of us, were of a team of five, known as the LeCreuset Team. Our commander was Captain Rau LeCreuset, who requested all five of us for a specialized mission as soon as we graduated from training. We wore the red uniforms proudly, and for a while, served with honor.”

Their commander paused for a moment before Lenore saw him look over to something next to him before saying, “Lieutenant Yula.”

“Sir?” she questioned, getting up from where she had been sitting and floated to him.

He silently held up what looked like a wig before saying, “Wear this for now. It seems that that training accident that I heard about happening to a recruit bearing your likeness a couple of years ago, was no accident after all.”

“T-thank you, sir,” she said, taking the wig from him. “Did... did you know... who I really was, sir? Back then?”

“No,” he answered. “I had my suspicions, but then again, I was one of many who thought Zala was dead.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, nodding, deciding not to further push her questioning down that particular line, though her fears were still at the tip of her tongue. She knew that she had to ask, to sate her fear – whether through good news or bad, it would ease her mind. “Sir... one last question, if I may be permitted?”

“Orders have not come in, Yula,” he immediately stated, answering her unspoken question, as she saw him flick up a familiar-looking swept winged pin between two fingers. Her eyes widened in pure shock, as she faintly heard her commander continue to say, “Chairwoman Canaver has not ordered any FAITH members to assassinate Athrun Zala. Yet.”

* * *

“What are you staring at?”

Inga Aurelia looked down and over to see her teammate, fellow pilot, and friend, Keiko standing next to her, with her hands on her hips. “Nothing,” she said as a faint twitch of a worried smile briefly appeared on her face as she looked back at her unpowered mobile suit. Or 'Gundam' as she knew Yuki would insist on calling her _Silverbird_ , and every other mobile suit that ran that particular OS.

“Worried about that boyfriend of yours, Inga?” her friend asked, tugging at the sleeve of her uniform so that they sat on the main walkway with their feet dangling over the edge. The noise of the hangar bay filled the silence, and though both of them knew that they had other duties to attend to soon, Inga did not feel like getting up just yet.

“Yuki...” she began, sighing. “I know them... I know Ms. Clyne, Mr. Yamato, and Mr. Dino...”

“Yuki never told you about Mr. Dino... or should I say, Commander Zala, didn't he?” her friend quietly stated.

“No, he never did,” she answered, looking down towards the floor.

It hurt that Yuki didn't even trust her enough to tell her the truth about his 'Uncle Alex', even though he had clearly called her 'family' as they were flying out of the asteroid. She had grown up with him, Lenore, and Nicolai; went to school with all of them, and yet now, it felt like she knew next to nothing about them. Even in the brief time that she had seen all of them while stuck in the past, they all seemed like such a happy family, even if it was a twisted fate. She had been greatly surprised that Kira Yamato was the pilot of the rebuilt legendary mobile suit, _Freedom_ , and even more impressed that Alex Dino was able to pilot the rebuilt _Justice_. Looking back, her assumptions that Dino was just a talented mobile suit engineer seemed so paltry, considering the revelation.

“But,” she started, taking a deep breath as she looked over towards her _Silverbird_ , “I understand why Yuki did what he did. I don't blame him for not wanting anyone to know about Mr. Dino's true identity.”

“You're more forgiving of him than I would have been, if I were in your shoes,” Keiko said. “I just hope that his parents are pardoned like last time, even if they are Coordinators. I'm sure neither of them intended to build those two mobile suits. Maybe they were coerced--”

“Keiko!” she began, looking at her with an appalled expression.

“What?” her friend defensively asked. “You know that I'm not fond of Coordinators. Lacus Clyne and Kira Yamato are about the only ones that I can bring myself to respect, because of what they did after the war. Not because they're the parents of your boyfriend. I can't see them willingly building two nuclear-powered mobile suits or deliberately violating the treaty--”

“And yet you'll hate on Alex Dino?” she cut in.

“Athrun Zala,” her friend stated, nearly spitting out the name. “He lived under false pretenses, Inga. He was a ZAFT soldier, and you know what they did to the Eurasian Federation. Were it not for those mercenaries that beat them back, my father and mother would have been killed.”

“ZAFT soldier or not, you don't even know if he was fighting in that area, Keiko,” she protested. “You can't blame him--”

“Oh, and you're saying that I should blame Zala's father instead? For sending more forces down to Earth, for building Genesis and killing nearly all of my relatives when it was first fired, for killing my aunt, the captain of the _Dominion_?!” Keiko angrily said.

“Then why, Keiko,” she implored. “Why did you agree to join the crew of the _Cygnus_? Why subject yourself to this Alliance when you know damn well there are other areas where you can get postings where you don't have to interact with Coordinators?”

“My father,” her friend quietly stated. “I accepted this posting on behalf of my father. He wanted to ensure that the Alliance stayed true to its word. There will always be Coordinators who hate Naturals and Naturals who hate Coordinators. The least I can do for my father is to make sure his voice is heard within the Alliance whenever he is not present.”

Inga remained silent at that. There were so many things she wanted to say to her friend, but knew that they thought of things differently and lived different lives. She had been lucky that her mother, a Coordinator, and her father, a Natural, had parted on agreeable terms when they had divorced just after she had been born. She had also been lucky to have been sent to Orb's inclusive preparatory school that included both Coordinators and Naturals in integrated classes. She grew up not genetic-blind, but with an awareness that the peace that surrounded her with regards to Coordinators and Naturals, was not what her friend grew up with.

It would take more exposure, and less grudges held from the past to change her friend's way of thinking. Now... circumstances were making it a little more complicated, and not just in letting old grudges die. “I hope ZAFT or the PLANTs doesn't try to extradite him,” she murmured more to herself than anything else.

“Earth...no, OMNI wouldn't stand for it,” her friend agreed. “I don't want another war to begin.”

She nodded and sighed. “I wonder if Captain Ivanova will let me go see Yuki.”

“Just tell her that we're doing some recon, since Orb's requesting us and that ZAFT ship to patrol their space,” Keiko spoke up after a moment. “You're clearly itching to go down to the colony, so while you go make sure your boyfriend is doing all right, I'll do some recon on my own, okay? Besides, it might be good for the press to see that OMNI is taking interest in these arrests.”

She glanced over and smiled. Trust her friend to be more politically savvy than she would ever be. If Keiko had it her way, and was not stymied by her father, Inga knew that she would probably make it to captaining a ship in a few years, rather than sit behind a desk being stuck with paperwork. “Yeah... thanks. Let's go ask the captain.”

* * *

Nicolai Attha knew his best friend and cousin, Yuki Yamato, was usually prone to exaggeration of expressions and actions, but had he not been used to his actions, this current state would have looked like normal. Except that he knew it was not normal as he heard his cousin growl in anger before hearing something bang on the inside of the cockpit of the mobile suit they were working on. Looking up from his paused typing on the platform's computers, he leaned to the side slightly to peek into the cockpit to see what Yuki had thrown aside this time.

However, instead of seeing his cousin sitting there for the fourth time since they had returned to Heliopolis II and berthed their mobile suit in the bay next door to the _Archangel_ , Yuki suddenly stormed out. “Hey, wait!” he called out as his cousin grabbed the rails of the ladder attached to the side of the platform and slid down.

Scrambling after him, he reached the floor and ran, catching the door that swung open with more force than necessary. Yuki was a fast athletic runner, but Nicolai was taller. Still, he didn't catch up to his cousin until they were out of the industrial area and well into the park. He knew the direction that Yuki was heading was towards the house where Kira and Lacus had been placed under arrest. No one was allowed near the house except for either Chief Representative Seiran, Chairwoman Canaver, or Prime Minister Stephanopolos. That had been made quite clear to both him and Yuki just hours after they had returned.

“Yuki,” he said, placing a hand on his cousin's shoulder, as both of them were hunched over slightly, out of breath and panting. “You can't. You know you can't.”

“To hell that I can't!” his cousin snarled, batting his hand away as he stood back up. “They're my parents! Seiran can't--”

At once, Yuki immediately stopped speaking, and before Nicolai could clamp a hand onto his arm to prevent him from running off again, Yuki took off. This time, he was running towards a particular person who had two bodyguards with him. Nicolai's eyes widened in fear; as much as he wanted to see that particular man that Yuki was running towards, throttled and beaten, now was definitely not the time. Taking off, he managed to tackle his cousin to the ground before either of them could get close.

Pinning Yuki as best as he could with his weight, he felt his cousin struggle mightily under him, he leaned down and hissed, “Don't! Seiran is not worth it--”

“He is now! That bastard! Now I know how you feel--”

“Yuki! Nicolai!” an alarmed voice cried out as Nicolai snapped his head up to see Inga running towards them.

Even that small shift in weight was enough for Yuki to overpower him with pure strength. He was shoved backwards before being clocked on the side of his head by his cousin's flailing arms. Stars exploded in his vision as he stumbled and fell to the ground in a vain attempt to grab the edge of some portion of his cousin's clothes. Trying to get up, he blearily saw that someone else not Inga, him, or the other OMNI soldier following Inga, had appeared and clotheslined Yuki.

Blinking away the stars and the pain, he scrambled up and reached his sister, just in time to see her neatly turn and completely pin their cousin down on the ground. He supposed that it was fortunate that Lenore showed up when she did, though he was not happy that she was wearing the red uniform of ZAFT. Even with a wig over her natural dark blue hair, he would still recognize her from anywhere. He continued to shake the stars and pain from his head, and crouched down in front of his cousin.

“Let me go!” Yuki growled, his words half-muffled from his face being pushed into the ground.

“Yuki,” he began, and looked up to see that three other red-uniformed ZAFT soldiers, along with Inga, dressed in her OMNI uniform were approaching. It looked like the other OMNI soldier following Inga was attempting to intercept Chief Representative Seiran, who had seen the commotion happen. He frowned in clear displeasure as he saw Seiran shake his head and brush off the other OMNI soldier's attempts to stop him from approaching.

“We have everything under control, Chief Representative,” he managed to say through clenched teeth as Seiran, with his wary bodyguards, came just close enough to hear him. “You don't have to concern yourself with us.” _Bastard_ , he desperately wanted to add, but didn't.

He could never forgive the man standing in front of them; the one who did an incredibly despicable thing that not only sullied the name of his and Lenore's mother, but also their father. While he had derived some vicious form of pleasure in seeing Seiran's shocked expression through the transmission the moment Athrun Zala had revealed his true name, that victory was starting to feel oddly hollow. He knew that Seiran deserved every single questioning to his judgment for what he had done to them, but it was really pathetic to see the man reduced to what he was now – still living in the shadow of long-dead Lioness of Orb.

Instead of going away, Seiran crouched and looked at both him and Yuki, though a slight furrow his his eyebrows appeared when he glanced over towards Lenore. The leader of Orb then said, “Your families are Orb citizens, no matter what people say or claim otherwise. We all may have had our differences in the past, but I promise that they will remain here. No one has extradition rights to them, not even ZAFT or OMNI.”

Despite that last statement being a clear jab at the OMNI and ZAFT soldiers gathered around them, Nicolai did not believe a word. As much as he wanted to call out Seiran's lies, he didn't. Beyond the Chief Representative, it seemed that a group of media folks had noticed them and the leader of Orb, and were clearly heading towards them. “We'll take our leave now,” he simply said.

He saw Lenore take that as a signal and with Inga's help, both of them lifted Yuki up from the ground, keeping him close to them as they walked him away. Nicolai followed after them, not even bothering to see what Seiran was going to do about the reporters. While he was glad that the ZAFT soldiers were following them, he was not happy at the same time – couldn't Lenore have come from the ship alone, or with just one of her teammates? He didn't understand why she felt that she needed to bring all three with her. At least Inga had the sense to only travel with one other OMNI soldier.

The group silently made their way to a more secluded area within the enormous park, though it ended up being one of the many out-of-ways area where there was at least a small vending machine to dispense ice. Sitting down on the steps leading up to the vend, he glanced over to see Yuki also sitting, though there was clearly a despairing look upon his face. The crackle of ice within a handkerchief next to him caused him to look up to see his sister offering him the makeshift cold pack. He accepted the ice, though he couldn't help but notice just how eerie she looked with her blonde-brown wig on. She now looked closer to their dead mother than to their father.

Another make-shift ice pack was also offered to Yuki, though he saw Inga take it and press it against the back of Yuki's head. Taking a moment to briefly look around, he saw Lenore sitting near them, playing with a piece of grass that she found interesting while occasionally glancing at them. The other OMNI soldier was nearby, though clearly standing as far away from the ZAFT soldiers without losing direct and immediate sight of Inga and Yuki. As for the other three ZAFT soldiers, they were standing near Lenore, but far enough away to give her some privacy should she want to come talk to Yuki, Inga, or him. Though one of the soldiers...

He glanced at Inga before looking back at one of the ZAFT soldiers with jet black hair and eerily pale blue eyes. “Are you guys related?” he asked, catching Inga's eyes before taking yet another look at the ZAFT soldier.

His question seemed to break the ice that hung over them as he saw Yuki liven up by turning slightly to look at what he was looking at. “Yeah,” Inga answered as Nicolai saw the ZAFT soldier shrug in the same manner as she did. “Never thought I'd see you here, Andrew,” Inga said, grinning. “In ZAFT as well.”

“Never thought you'd end up joining OMNI, Inga,” the soldier, Andrew, answered.

“Half-siblings?” Lenore guessed, looking at both of them with piqued curiosity.

“Yeah,” Inga answered. “Commonality through mom, apparently. Though I have to say, Andrew, why didn't you ever contact me when you lived in Orb? We could have had so much fun!”

“Orb?” Nicolai asked. He didn't remember seeing a student like Andrew in their school when he had been growing up.

“I was only living in Orb with my father during breaks from school,” Andrew answered. “I'm Andrew Barton, by the way,” the soldier continued saying, crouching down and holding out a hand for him to shake.

Nicolai frowned slightly, though fortunately, his sister saved him from shaking the soldier's hand by saying, “My brother doesn't like ZAFT.”

Instead of being offended or even awkward with the lack of social graces being shown, Barton merely withdrew his hand and stood back up. It seemed that Lenore was a little annoyed by his lack of manners and stood up, saying, “Andrew, this is my brother, Nicolai Attha. Nicolai, these are my teammates: Andrew Barton pilot of the _Meridian_ , Dalton Elsmann pilot of the _Valkyrie_ , and Alice Joule pilot of the _Minuteman_.”

She then pointed to Yuki, saying, “That's Yuki Yamato. He and my brother pilot _Vanguard_.”

“I'm Inga Aurelia, by the way,” Inga spoke up, giving the ZAFT soldiers a cheerful wave of her free hand. “ _Silverbird_ is my machine.”

“Keiko Sakamoto,” he heard the other OMNI pilot state, though she sounded incredibly reluctant to even participate in the introductions. “I pilot _Albion_.”

“So the four of you,” the ZAFT pilot, Alice, began, gesturing to Yuki, Lenore, Inga, and him, “got transported through time? What was it... via tachyon particles?”

“Apparently,” he answered as he saw Andrew nod. “Tachyon particles is what transported us? I thought those didn't exist.”

“They do now,” Andrew answered, shrugging. “My suit was designed to detect N-Jammer Cancellers and had some other sensors calibrated for particles that exist within those Cancellers. It picked up an unknown particle, so that's what I assumed it was. It makes sense.”

“But still... you guys went into the past,” Alice continued, though Nicolai noticed that Keiko was eyeing the ZAFT soldiers with some suspicions as soon as Andrew had mentioned N-Jammer Cancellers. “Wow... we wouldn't even have known if you guys messed up the past.”

“C.E. 73 was... interesting,” Yuki stated, looking up as he took the ice pack from Inga and nodded his thanks to her. “And harrowing to not try to change the past...”

“Though I suppose that the good thing is, that we now know who the hell designed that 'time machine' and those... what did your father call them, Yuki? Neuro...?” Inga began.

“Neural linked pilots that are completely wireless and integrated with their mobile suits. Chips to allow faster reaction time between man and machine,” Yuki finished. “Can't believe that it was Blue Cosmos.”

“I don't think Blue Cosmos has that capability,” Keiko quietly spoke up, startling everyone. “They're staunchly anti-modification. Every single person who joins them goes through an oath of initiation – a promise if you will, to keep their bodies and their descendants pure and natural. Why would they create soldiers, much less pilots, with computer chips wired into them? That goes against everything they profess for their 'pure and blue world' motto.”

“Sounds like you've had personal experience,” Dalton spoke up. Even though the pilot held himself in a casual stance, there was an edge to his words.

“Might I remind you that the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations were only recently home to Blue Cosmos and their majority electorates,” Keiko answered with a smile full of teeth. “Old, long grudges tend to have difficulty dying.”

Surprisingly, it was Andrew who broke the sudden tension before it could escalate, saying, “Sakamoto is right about Blue Cosmos. Part of the shielding that was on the Junius 7 piece was traced to a R&D lab on Martius 3, but no further. Coupled with these neural links that allow them to control the suits with their thoughts, I don't believe we're looking at extremists within Earth or the PLANTs. I think whoever built these might be an entirely new enemy.”

“But then how did... hmm, I guess, how did Ath—uh, Alex... gah, how did the pilot of _Infinite Justice_ go back in time to successfully blast and bypass that asteroid's engine shielding when it was clear that neither _Freedom_ or _Justice_ could get through?” Yuki asked, frowning slightly.

“That's what Yamato and Zala stole,” Alice spoke up, folding her arms across her chest. “None of us discovered the theft until they were well on their way to the _Eternal_ and out the door to where we found them. Though for all intents and purposes, at least they had the sense to rig the asteroid to blow so Blue Cosmos, or whatever we're going to call these new enemies, won't get their hands on it.”

“The asteroid battle happened twenty-three years ago,” Lenore said after moment of silence. “We know who participated in it, so do you think that they all sat on their hands, knowing what they found out about these neural-linked pilots?”

“Or maybe they were waiting for all of us to return?” Inga suggested.

“Because they were all stuck in a loop just like we were, but didn't want to dare change anything that might potentially wreck our future?” Nicolai asked, frowning as he glanced over at Yuki for a moment.

While Inga and Lenore knew that the _Vanguard_ had the neural chip from the dead Blue Cosmos soldier back in C.E. 73, he wasn't sure if either had told their commanders or teammates about the chip. If anything about their trip to the past told him anything, it was that even with the veneer of peace, there was still a shadow war of sorts going on... and it hadn't stopped even with the signing of the Armistice Treaty.

“I think,” he began and shook his head slightly. “I think _Infinite Justice_ and _Strike Freedom_ were deliberately built not in violation of the treaty, but because Kira Yamato, Lacus Clyne, and Athrun Zala – I think they know war is coming.”

* * *

The cell was dark and dank, just as Athrun had expected it to be. There was even the cliched single small window so high up on the walls that it only streamed light in to hit the ceiling. However, even if the aesthetic of the cell he was locked in fit so many tropes, the lock that kept him in was anything but. It was a double-keyed lock with a biometric sensor and keypad. He didn't know who designed such a lock within the cells of this place, but he had to give them kudos. It would be damn near impossible to get out if one didn't have the right tools for the job – which he didn't.

The grinding and ratcheting sounds of the outer door that led into this part of the cells caused Athrun to shake himself out of his musings. Looking up as the door opened, he blinked in surprise as he saw the last person he expected to see walk in.

“Yzak...” he began, standing up as he saw his former teammate approach him with a familiar red, folded ZAFT uniform in his hands.

~~~

While Kira knew that house arrest was quite a lenient punishment given to both him and Lacus, he wished the same courtesy had been extended to Athrun. He didn't think his best friend deserved to be put into a maximum security cell within the colony, but either Chief Representative Seiran panicked and overreacted to Athrun's revelation, or Seiran was an even pettier man than Kira thought. He preferred to think of Seiran, for all of his faults, as probably overreacting, given the circumstances. At least Chairwoman Canaver and Prime Minister Stephanopolos had insisted that both ZAFT and OMNI work with Heliopolis II's security force in guarding both Lacus and he, and Athrun.

The guards that stood in and around the house that he and his wife were sequestered in, were generally polite, but none of them said much. As much as it spoke about their professionalism, Kira had caught them occasionally whispering to each other. He had to hide his smile at some of the whispers, which were mostly about Lacus and how could she have been accused of such crimes when she was so nice, polite, and occasionally even slightly absent-minded. That was the impression she gave to everyone who didn't know her, and he knew that more than once in the past, that impression had saved her life. She was the hidden strength that bound all of them together – Athrun, he, the crews of the _Archangel_ , _Kusanagi_ , and _Eternal_... and even Cagalli when she still had been alive.

The front door opening, along with a sharp “Sir!” coming from the guards in the foyer, alerted Kira to someone coming to talk to them. He placed the book he had been reading down and stood up, just as Lacus peeked out from reading room where she had been tending to some of the indoor plants. “Ah, good morning Chief Representative Seiran,” Lacus said as the two of them saw the leader of Orb enter the main drawing room.

“Good morning, Ms. Clyne,” Seiran said, “and you as well, Mr. Yamato. Please have a seat, both of you. I'd like to discuss a few things with you.”

 

~*~*~*~

 


	3. Chapter 2: Lifelines

**Chapter 2: Lifelines**

_C.E. 74, Orb, Earth..._

 

“So, what do you think, Kira?”

Kira blinked as snapped himself out of the slight fugue he had fallen into while waiting for his sister to finish putting on the dress. Lifting himself up from where he was half-sitting and half-lounging, he looked up to see his sister wearing an elegant dark green gown that reminded him of that time when Captain Bartfeld had invited both of them into his base in the desert. Aisha, Bartfeld's partner, had taken Cagalli away and completely cleaned her up and somehow managed to get her to wear a beautiful pale green dress.

“Its...” he began, unsure as to what he should say, considering he remembered Sai and Tolle warning him long ago to never say anything about an outfit or dress a lady was asking opinions on. “I don't know, Cagalli.... I think Lacus would have been better suited for this than asking me. I mean, I know we haven't spent some time together in a while, but...”

“I want this to be my wedding dress, Kira,” she quietly interrupted him.

“What?” he said after a moment, completely shocked at what he thought he just heard her state. “W-wedding... wait... does that mean?” He thought there had been some hiccup that just needed to be worked out between Cagalli and Athrun, with regards to Cagalli's fiance, Yuuna Roma Seiran. He had never expected it to be resolved that quickly.

“No,” she said, her expression closing up as she shook her head. “I'm marrying Yuuna.”

“Cagalli...” he began, looking at her with some concern. “Why...? I thought... you and Athrun, I thought you love him?”

“I did...I do,” she began as she came over from where she had been standing in front of the multi-view mirror and sat down next to him. “I still do... but, I can't. I have to do what is right for my people, for Orb, and for peace. Yuuna... he has influence with the Atlantic Federation and East Asian Republic... influence that Orb needs to make sure that OMNI doesn't try to start the war again.”

“But Cagalli,” he said, looking at his sister with dismay, “you... that's just...”

“It's politics, Kira,” she said, before loudly sighing. “That's all it is. Politics.”

“Athrun... does he know... does he understand?” he asked, worried.

She looked down at her knees for a few moments before he heard her say, “He knows, and I hope he understands and will forgive me.”

* * *

Even though the PLANTs had a great replication system of natural breeze and even the smell of a salty ocean, nothing could ever compare to the actual thing on Earth. Athrun knew that the gulls and their ceaseless squawking would have driven others mad, but he rather enjoyed their braying. As another gentle breeze blew strands of his hair around, he heard the back door to the home that Lacus, Kira, Reverend Malchio, and the children they all took care of, open.

He shifted slightly to look back, and saw Lacus emerge from the house. Her normally cheerful expression was replaced by a serious one as she approached and sat down at the porch table across from where he sat, staring out into the ocean. He returned his attention to the endless blue ocean with an equally clear sky, letting the silence between them linger for a few minutes more.

“You know why Cagalli is going through with the wedding, don't you, Athrun?” Lacus asked, breaking the peaceful, relative silence.

“Yes,” he answered, as he felt a twisting sensation inside of him briefly rise up before dying down again. It had hurt, more than he had anticipated, when Cagalli had finally confirmed to him what he had long suspected. She was marrying her fiance, out of a sense of duty to her people and country. Despite him knowing that she did not harbor any sort of affection for Yuuna Roma Seiran, it still hurt to see and know that she was going down a path that he could not follow.

“Do you understand why?” she continued to ask.

“She's going through with the wedding because it's her duty to,” he stated, half-marveling at just how even he sounded. “Because she needs every scrap of influence she can get to make sure that that man will stem the ambitions of the Atlantic Federation and East Asia Republic.”

“You hate it, don't you?”

“Of course I do!” he shot back, before realizing that this was Lacus he was talking to. She did not deserve his ire, no matter what. “Sorry,” he said in a softer, apologetic tone as he briefly looked over to see that she had not taken his earlier words in offense. “I'm sorry, Lacus. I shouldn't have--”

“You have every right to hate what is happening, Athrun,” she said. “This is not your sense of duty that we are talking about. This is your heart, the one place where your mind cannot overrule. Your heart is what gives you your strength, Athrun, and right now, it's been deeply hurt. At the moment it will be painful to accept the paths that both of you have chosen, but the two of you will heal with time.”

He remained silent at her words, even though he knew that she was right. Cagalli's decision devastated him, but right now, he wanted to not only cry, but wanted to sweep Cagalli up and fly her away from everything. Still, he knew that he couldn't do that to her, and thus had flown to the island, to seek counsel and quiet. Lacus was right – both his and Cagalli's sense of duty almost always overrode their personal thoughts and feelings. Both of them had come out of the war realizing that it was personal decisions that caused a lot of the devastation that had been wrought.

“Will you forgive her?” she quietly asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I...” he began before both of them heard the tell-tale sound of a jet transport coming in for a landing. It seemed that Kira had returned from whatever Cagalli had asked her brother to do. However, Athrun did not feel like getting up from where he was and going out to greet him, and it seemed, neither did Lacus.

As the whine of the engines of the transport died down to silence, Athrun remained where he was, continuing to stare out into the ocean, trying to find some comfort from watching the waves lap up onto the beach. A few minutes later, he heard the front door open and footsteps walking through the house towards the back where he and Lacus were sitting. The back door opened and he heard Lacus softly greet Kira, but still he did not turn around – he didn't want to go back to Orb just yet.

“May I...” he began. “May I stay for a few days?”

He felt a comforting, warm hand land on his shoulder and turned slightly to look up. Understanding shone through Kira's eyes as he heard him say, “Stay for as long as you need to, Athrun.”

* * *

_C.E. 96, Heliopolis II..._

 

“Ah, good morning Chief Representative Seiran,” Lacus said as the two of them saw the leader of Orb enter the main drawing room.

“Good morning, Ms. Clyne,” Seiran said, “and you as well, Mr. Yamato. Please have a seat, both of you. I'd like to discuss a few things with you.”

Kira remained where he was, as his wife took a seat next to him. The guards that had been in the room and its vicinity walked away, though he knew that they would not be far from the leader of Orb. “We heard your news conference this morning,” he said after a moment. “I thought all charges were already laid out against the three of us.”

“Yes, they were,” Seiran answered before folding his hands together and rested them against his lap. “The ship captains of OMNI and ZAFT had some issues with the charges and brought it up to their leaders. Thus, some of the charges we announced earlier are in flux.”

“So they can be worse than what is already levied against us?” he asked.

“Possibly,” Seiran answered. “But I hope not.”

Kira blinked in surprise, though Lacus was better at hiding her surprise at the leader of Orb's words. “Why?” Lacus asked after a moment, tilting her head slightly.

“Because while everyone wants to make examples out of you, I suspect that you had your reasons to build _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_... just like you had your reasons to rebuild _Freedom_ and _Justice_ all those years ago,” Seiran said, looking slightly frustrated at them. “While you might not be telling us what those reasons are, for all of our sake, I hope that you know what the you're doing. Lives have been ruined because of you, and make no mistake, there are still people who clearly remembered what you've done during the war.”

“While your sincerity is appreciated, Chief Representative,” Lacus said after Seiran had fallen silent, “I believe that it is a little too late for platitudes and apologies. It is neither my husband or I you should be apologizing to. It should be to Athrun. And, if you feel inclined to once you return to Orb, give your apologies for what you have done throughout these years over Cagalli's grave. She knew what the true cost of peace was.”

Kira remained silent as he reached out to squeeze his wife's hands. Never has such caustic words emerged from his wife's lips, but he was of the same mind as her – Seiran deserved every word that was stated. The leader of Orb's attempt to broker a sort of personal peace between them was too little, too late. Had Seiran not gone after Athrun three years ago through the claiming of Nicolai, then perhaps there might have been a little more civil of words exchanged.

“Whatever charges are ultimate laid out against us will match the charges against Athrun Zala,” Lacus stated. “That is the condition that we will set before telling the press or anyone else why _Infinite Justice_ and _Strike Freedom_ were built.”

“They don't need a reason why the mobile suits were built to charge you for violation of the treaty, Ms. Clyne,” Seiran said after a moment, disappointment flashing across his expression.

Neither of them rose up to the baited challenge. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, the Chief Representative then said, “Despite the words spoken in the press conference, ZAFT and OMNI have already lodged extradition rights to Commander Zala. Because he was active military before his desertion, he will be treated as such and will face a military tribunal, in addition to the charges laid against him for the building of the mobile suits. The two of you will be granted the route of civilian court. Jury selection has already begun for both of your trials, though I can tell you that it will take a while to choose jurors. Commander Zala's trial will be shorter – OMNI, ZAFT, and some of the nations of Earth, including Orb, have already selected their military representatives for the tribunal.”

Kira clenched his jaw, but dared not ask what he desperately wanted to ask – if he would be allowed to testify or make a statement about Athrun to the tribunal. Seiran did not need to know about his military record or the fact that he had fought against, and had been nearly killed by Athrun during the war. All the man really knew about him was that he was Cagalli's brother, and that he was the pilot of _Freedom_. There was nothing in the man who had been his sister's official husband that he considered 'family'.

“Then we have no more to say to each other,” Lacus spoke up. “The next time we shall speak again is when we see you at our trials.”

* * *

“Yzak...” Athrun began, standing up as he saw his former teammate approach him with a familiar red, folded ZAFT uniform in his hands.

“There's nothing in the uniform you can use to pick the locks, Athrun,” Yzak stated as he stopped and folded the uniform as best as he could to squeeze it through the metal bars. “The guards thoroughly checked it before I was allowed to give it to you.”

“And they let you in as well,” he said, taking the uniform and placing it on the edge of the concrete slab that was his bed. “I'm surprised, given that I thought only Chairwoman Canaver, Prime Minister Stephanopolos, or Chief Representative Seiran are allowed to see me. At least that's the impression I get from the guards whenever they bring my meals.”

Yzak didn't immediately answer him except to reach into a pocket and withdraw something small. He saw his former teammate flick up the object in between two fingers, saying, “Being an agent of the people is somewhat useful as well.”

Athrun blinked, surprised at himself as to how calm he was as he stared at the FAITH pin that Yzak held up. Drawing himself up to his full height, he clasped his hands behind him and asked, “Did Chairwoman Canaver send you to kill me?”

“No,” his former teammate replied, putting the pin back into his pocket. “I came of my own volition, as well as to deliver the uniform that you will need in the coming days. You will be facing a military tribunal, far worse than what Dearka faced all those years ago. In order to placate Earth and OMNI, Chairwoman Canaver convinced ZAFT to open up the tribunal to their top officers. You are going to be judged not only for violating the treaty, for also for war crimes committed during the war.”

“Ah,” he said after a moment, unclasping his hands behind his back and easing himself to parade rest. “So I will never escape my father's legacy.”

“You could have!” Yzak's sudden outburst and the slamming of his hands on the bars that separated them startled Athrun. “You could have completely walked away and not built those two mobile suits! You could have lived out the rest of your life in peace! Why, Athrun Zala?! Why the hell did you do it?”

Despite himself, Athrun could not help but smile slightly at his former teammate's actions and words. It reminded him of the external front Yzak put on to try to not become friends with any of them, even during training. Cold and detached, he remembered that it took Dearka's persistence to befriend him to crack a small chip into Yzak's shell. Nicol's death during the war had really shown just how futile it was to deny the bonds of their comradeship. Still, Athrun would not have called Yzak a friend back then, or even now – just a teammate who fought with him during the war.

“You haven't changed at all, have you, Yzak?” he asked, shaking his head slightly as he sat back down on the slab and looked up at him.

“Just answer my question,” Yzak said, removing his hands from the bars and crossed his arms over his chest.

“This war between the Natural and Coordinators was only stopped for twenty-five years,” he stated as he glanced down at the folded uniform before looking back up. “You know as well as I do that we only had a veneer of peace. They're coming, Yzak; those people who built the 'time machine' and created those shields. But rather then let them make the next move and potentially kill millions of innocents, we've taken matters into our own hands.”

“Matters into your own hands...” he heard his former teammate repeat before his eyes widened in realization. “Clyne... all of you... you've made yourselves targets.”

“Which is why you need to gather as much data from what the techs extracted from _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_ about the shield, about the 'time machine', about anything you can, and distribute it to not only your pilots, but also to everyone else here. We were hoping that they would strike before we got back to Heliopolis II, but they haven't yet. With everyone focused on the colony now, it would be the perfect opportunity to cause a second Junius 7-like incident,” he said, getting up again and stopping so that his nose was almost pressed up against the bars.

“But why...” Yzak began. “Why tell me? Shouldn't you be telling Canaver or even the other leaders about this?”

“Because,” he answered, pointing to the pocket in which his former teammate had slipped his pin into. “We serve the will of the people. It is our duty to keep them safe, just as it is our leaders' duty to make sure that our secrets are safe.”

Yzak took a step back, staring at him for a long moment before saying, “The Chairwoman knew that you were alive all this time?”

“I never stopped serving the people,” he quietly said, even though it was technically a lie – he had thought his life in ZAFT had been over after the war, after he had been declared dead. Then came Canaver's offer to work in the shadows, to ensure that the peace that they had all worked so hard for remained. To keep the peace, one had to become a peacekeeper.

Before either of them could say anything else, the door to the cell block suddenly creaked open as a surprisingly familiar voice, and an equally familiar face popped in. “I didn't think it would take either of you this long to stage a jail break.”

“Dearka?!” both of them exclaimed at the same time, looking towards the open door.

“You... you guys are staging a jail break, right?” Dearka, dressed in the uniform of a guard assigned to this cell area, asked as he partially closed the door and took a step in. He blinked in confusion at both of them, looking slightly unsure.

“Uh.... no,” Yzak stated. Athrun shook his head as well.

“Wha... never mind,” the former pilot of Buster said, looking annoyed before fully opening the door and saying to someone outside, “Nope. Call the team off and return everyone to their post. I'll find out why. There's got to be a good reason why.”

As soon as Dearka stepped back in and closed the door, Yzak asked, “Why?”

“I'm serving as a mobile suit consultant of sorts on the _Archangel_ at the moment, and it's currently docked here,” Dearka answered, coming over and stopping before both of them. Athrun saw him reach into a sleeve pocket and withdraw a FAITH pin. “I'll have the team erase all footage, since I don't think the Chairwoman wants the world to know that both you and I are agents in the same capacity as Athrun here.”

“So the Chairwoman wanted me to be broken out?” Athrun asked, baffled.

“No,” Dearka answered, shaking his head slightly. “I thought she was wrong to have you arrested and thrown here, so I was going to break you out. Then, Yzak here came in and used his authority under that pin to get in. We thought he got orders or was going to bust you out, which is a little better than my team doing it, since we have some Naturals on the team. But...”

Athrun opened his mouth to say his thanks, but paused for a moment as his surprise started to sink fully in. “I'm staying here,” he said after a moment. “I appreciate the sentiment, but Yzak knows why I'm staying here. If we divide up the forces now, then who knows what will happen to Heliopolis II.”

“So you think this attack will happen in the next few days? When the military leaders from Earth and the PLANTs arrive?” Yzak asked.

“What better time than to attempt to destroy a lot of military leaders than now?” he asked, though it was more of a statement than question.

“If we moved all of you to the Moon or the PLANTs, or even down to Earth, then the result would have happened either way,” Yzak murmured.

“Attack?” Dearka jumped in. “What attack?”

“I'll tell you as we go,” Yzak answered, immediately taking their former teammate by the arm and guiding him away. Giving a quick glance back towards Athrun, the captain then said, “Blue Cosmos, or whoever they are, won't win.”

* * *

_A few days later..._

 

In a way, Yuki was both annoyed and glad at the same time that General Kisaka had ordered _Vanguard_ and its pilots into a CAP rotation with the rest of the Astrays that the _Kusanagi_ carried. With so many military leaders on Heliopolis, it made sense that a CAP was being formed by ZAFT, OMNI, and Orb military personnel. Not only was it important for everyone to feel safe, it gave the military forces a chance to show off their skills. But he didn't give one shit about showing off _Vanguard_ at all.

He was just glad that there was something to do to occupy his racing thoughts and worry about his parents. Athrun's trial was set to begin today, and many were predicting it to be a swift one, even with the heavy weight charge of war crimes being levied upon him. No one knew what was going to happen, and depending on the outcome, he wasn't sure what he himself would do as well. On one hand, he needed to be there for Nicolai and Lenore if their father was sentenced to death, but on the other hand, he didn't know if his parents would mentally survive the verdict. He didn't expect his parents to have heart attacks, but it was their mental states that he worried about.

His, Nicolai, Lenore, and Inga's trip back to C.E. 73 showed just how difficult life had been for Kira, Lacus, Athrun, and Cagalli even just two years after the war. Though there had been more laughter, more smiles, and even a more relaxed air about them, the battles they fought from the Moon to the Debris Belt seemed so desperate – as if they were all so tired of fighting and had already lived their lives thrice over. They all fought as if each fight would have Haumea grant them some peace in their next life, and it made him sad to see them all living like that.

He knew that his mother had stated more than once that his father carried so many emotional scars from the war, and that it was Athrun who kept him afloat. The same had been said about Athrun himself – those two kept each other alive, and that without one, the other would surely perish. Her words confused him back then, but now, since seeing his father and uncle when they had been much younger, he thought he had a better understanding of the deep bond that linked Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala together.

If Athrun did not survive his trial, then it didn't matter what Yuki's mother did – Kira would not be able to mentally go on, and vice versa. Yuki suspected that something had happened long ago, during the war, to have almost triggered some kind of similar reaction from the two. Otherwise, why would his mother have such a sad look upon her face when he had asked where Athrun had disappeared to in the first year following Cagalli's death.

“Hey you doing okay back there, Nicolai,?” he asked, shaking his head slightly in his helmet to get rid of his musings as he gunned the engines, and pressed two pedals on the floor to dip _Vanguard_ below _Kusanagi_ 's belly and fly under the ship.

“Yeah,” he heard the faint voice of his cousin answer over their private com channel.

Even though Nicolai was supposed to be on the lookout for any unusual things, he didn't think his cousin would be paying attention to _Vanguard_ 's systems anyways. Especially since both of them had the military trial feed up in the corner on of their screens. He at least had to fly, and he didn't mind taking double duty from his cousin – he would rather have Nicolai close by, than be separated and unable to help him.

As he flew along the nadir side of the space colony, passing by two Daggers from the _Cygnus_ , he glanced down at the live feed as he saw a commotion happening just off the screen. Turning up the volume, he caught the tail end of someone announcing that Captain Joule of the _Bartolomeo_ would be the first to testify, and establish the time line on the charges of dereliction of duty.

Easing up on the throttle, he glanced back to catch Nicolai's surprised expression as well. Returning his attention to the front, he knew that they were still on CAP, but he wondered how Captain Joule had a connection to Athrun. Listening as his eyes scanned the sensors and the blackness of space in front, he heard Joule say, “Captain Yzak Joule of the _Bartolomeo_. I fought in the war as a ZAFT mobile suit pilot. Then-Lieutenant Zala and I were of equal rank and both assigned to the LeCreuset Team. There were five of us on that team, all from the same recruit class. Our first mission out was the infiltration of Heliopolis to steal mobile suits at Morgenroete. We were also ordered to destroy a new kind of military vessel that they were building, code named _Archangel_. Commander LeCreuset assigned Lieutenant Zala as mission leader.”

“ _Strike_ , _Blitz_ , _Duel_ , _Buster_ , and _Aegis_ ,” Yuki thought heard Nicolai whisper over the sudden murmurs that started up from those military personnel witnessing the trial in the gallery.

“ _Blitz_ , _Duel_ , _Buster_ , and _Aegis_ were the only ones taken,” Joule continued after the call for silence on the floor was given. “ _Strike_ fell into OMNI hands, as did the _Archangel_. We pursued the vessel and the mobile suit to Artemis, then into the Debris Belt, and finally past two OMNI fleets until it entered Earth's atmosphere. We resumed the pursuit when the _Archangel_ and _Strike_ emerged from the Red Sea, detached from Commander LeCreuset. Lieutenant Commander Zala was in charge of pursuit and destruction operations of the _Archangel_ and _Strike_ on Earth. Shortly after the destruction of _Strike_ , I heard Lieutenant Commander Zala had been promoted and recalled back to the PLANTs. I did not have contact with him after that until shortly before Genesis was brought online.”

“I was wingman to Commander LeCreuset when we encountered the Three Ship Alliance at the L4 cluster of colonies. I fought against the formerly captured pilot of the mobile suit _Buster_ , who by then, had defected to the Alliance. Commander LeCreuset ordered a retreat when it was clear that we would not have the advantage of one ship, two mobile suits, and several mobile armors challenging the Three Ship Alliance. Shortly after, OMNI fired their nuclear missiles at the PLANTs. Those on the front line did not have the armaments or firepower necessary to stop the missiles. Both _Freedom_ and _Justice_ had, and they destroyed the missiles.”

“Genesis was brought online shortly after that. The battle degenerated into chaos with the firing of Genesis at the OMNI fleets, at the Moon, and finally being leveled at Earth. At that time, I was engaged in my own battles and only know that _Justice_ and several of its allied mobile suits were headed towards Genesis to stop it. The weapon was destroyed from the inside out. It was only later that I learned that _Justice_ had initiated a self-destruct to destroy Genesis.”

One of the brass on the tribunal asked a question that wasn't quite picked up by microphones in the room, but it seemed that Joule heard it well enough as he answered, “Lieutenant Zala piloted _Aegis_. I piloted _Duel_.”

“Haumea... no. _Aegis_ , _Strike_ , and _Blitz_ were destroyed during the war...” he heard his cousin whisper in horror. “ _Blitz_ by _Strike_ , and _Aegis_ by self-destruction...”

“That bay where we used to play,” he began, as he realized what exactly Nicolai was talking about. His cousin's research into the _Strike_ -in-ZAFT hands thesis had had him scouring all sorts of materials and unclassified military records. “C.E. 73 showed that there were clearly parts and pieces of two different mobile suits...”

“ _Strike_ was rebuilt after it was destroyed,” Nicolai said, as Yuki took a quick glance back to see him furrow his eyebrows for a moment. “Did _Aegis_ self-destruct in an attempt to destroy _Strike_?”

Yuki briefly turned their mobile suit around to begin another lap of patrol as he saw Joule being dismissed. The unfortunate part was that the cameras within the court room were only allowed in the back – he could only see the back of Athrun's head and of the red uniform that he wore. There was yet another commotion happening in the gallery, this time louder and more disruptive than the other. Even some of the military leaders in the tribunal were looking a bit shocked, which finally caused Athrun to briefly turn to see what exactly was causing the commotion.

None of them had to wait long for the disruption to appear on the camera – Captain Ramius of the _Archangel_ walked forward, dressed in the military uniform of Orb. However, even more shocking was the person who followed her, dressed in a similar uniform – Kira Yamato.

Yuki wasn't sure if his heart stopped for a moment, but it was only because they gently bumped into something that snapped him out of his fugue in staring at his father walk to the stand, in Orb's military uniform no less, to testify. His eyes focused on the screen beyond the small feed to see that Lenore, in her brilliantly bright white mobile suit, had caught them from drifting into one of the small satellites that surrounded Heliopolis II. Hitting a button to open a channel to her, he croaked, “Thanks.”

“I think the two of you should return to the _Kusanagi_ now,” she quietly stated. “You're going to do no good out here with how both of you are at the moment.”

“No...” Nicolai said, entering the same channel. “I think... give us a few...”

“State your name for the record,” they heard someone in the tribunal say.

“Kira Yamato. I was pressed into service by OMNI Lieutenant Murrue Ramius during the war as the pilot of _Strike_ ,” he heard his father say.

“Captain Ramius?” another on the tribunal asked.

“That is true,” she answered. “The _Archangel_ and her crew pressed Mr. Yamato and several civilians of Heliopolis into service.”

“Were you aware that he was a Coordinator?”

“I believe that we've already established those facts during the _Archangel_ 's tribunal all those years ago,” Ramius answered. “I will be able to forward the report and results of that tribunal to your desk, Admiral Delfosse, once I return to my ship.”

There was a bit of a noise, but that quickly died as the leader of the tribunal refocused his attention on the matter at hand and directed the next question at Kira, saying, “This is only to establish a time line. Character statements will be taken later.”

“I understand,” Kira answered, nodding. “I encountered Athrun and his team when they were attempting to steal the five mobile suits from the Morgenroete facility on Heliopolis. Following the destruction of the colony, the _Archangel_ flew to Artemis, then into the Debris Belt, and finally to Earth. ZAFT pursued the _Archangel_ at each point and sortied whenever they could get a chance to. When the _Archangel_ and mobile suit arrived at Earth, they were integrated to the fleet and ordered to descend.”

“On Earth, we landed in ZAFT-controlled territory and fought our way to the Red Sea. The four mobile suits picked up pursuit and forced us to take shelter in Orb. We anticipated that ZAFT would be waiting for us as soon as we left Orb, and ZAFT anticipated the same by not accepting the excuse that Orb had chased the _Archangel_ away. Their pursuit of us began shortly after we left Orb waters. In the ensuing fight, I killed the pilot of _Blitz_ , Nicol Amalfi. ZAFT temporarily retreated, and when they attacked again, Athrun killed one of the _Archangel_ 's Skygrasper pilot, Tolle Koenig.”

He saw him pause for a moment, before saying, “I know that personal or character statements should not be allowed at this time, but in order to further establish the time line, I have to make this statement.”

“Go on, Mr. Yamato,” the head of the tribunal said after looking around and seeing a few heads nod.

“Nicol Amalfi was a good friend of Athrun's, and Tolle Koenig was the same to me. Their deaths were the turning point in the fights that Athrun and I had engaged in up until then. Athrun and I grew up together, and attended the Lunar Preparatory Academy before circumstances parted us. Neither of us had our hearts set on killing each other, until both of us saw our friends die at each other hands. By all rights, we did kill each other on that island in the Pacific Ocean. My cockpit was already half-destroyed by _Aegis_ when it latched onto _Strike_ and attempted to fire its multi-phase beam cannon point blank. That was when it was drained of almost all its power. Athrun self-destructed _Aegis_ and destroyed _Strike_. Were it not for luck and the kindness of strangers, I would have died as well – and for a while, I was thought dead by the crew of the _Archangel_ and everyone else.”

“I recovered, was given the ZAFT-built mobile suit, _Freedom_ , and returned to Earth to try to stop the war from escalating. After the destruction of Alaska's JOSH-A, the crew of the _Archangel_ and I returned to Orb. We all questioned the lengths that OMNI was willing to go towards to destroy ZAFT, Coordinators, and lives in general. When OMNI pressed to gather as many allies as possible and secure dominance over Earth so that they could bring their mobile suits back up into space, Orb became one of their targets. In that battle, that was when I encountered Athrun once again, piloting _Justice_.”

“He had orders to take _Freedom_ back, but stated that he had no such orders with regards to fighting in Orb. Since the enemy was OMNI, by default, he joined us. When Orb's leader ordered the _Archangel_ into space and destroyed the mass driver, _Justice_ followed us into space. Shortly thereafter, Athrun flew back to the PLANTs without _Justice_. He told us that he intended to try to convince his father to stop escalating the war. In _Freedom_ , I escorted him all the way to Jachin Due. Shortly after, the _Eternal_ and her crew made their escape, though they were not without pursuers. Athrun was among those on the ship, and because the _Eternal_ had been specifically designed to carry the Meteor Systems for _Freedom_ and _Justice_ , there were no other mobile suits on board. I helped them escape and led them to the rendezvous point at the L4 cluster.”

“The Three Ship Alliance were forced into battle when the OMNI ship, _Dominion_ , flushed us out. ZAFT engaged us after the _Dominion_ retreated. They retreated as well, though shortly thereafter, the fleets of OMNI launched their nuclear missiles at the PLANTs. N-Jammer Canceller technology, originally integrated only into _Freedom_ and _Justice_ , had been passed onto OMNI by means unknown. The Meteor Systems were integrated into our mobile suits and using that, all missiles were destroyed before they could reach the PLANTs. Genesis was brought online after that and obliterated nearly all of OMNI's forward fleet. After the Lunar Base was destroyed by Genesis, I remained in space, fighting, while Athrun took a team with him into Genesis. Their goal was to completely shut down the systems before it could be fired at Earth.”

“To do that, they had to get to the control room. When they arrived, Patrick Zala had already been shot by his own people. Chairman Zala's last words to Athrun was to finish his work. Even if he didn't say that to him, the Chairman had already engaged a lock down of systems before that. Genesis would have been fired at complete power, and would not have stopped until its source was completely drained, which was nuclear. To stop the system, Athrun decided that self-destructing _Justice_ was the only option, because it was the only mobile suit in the immediate vicinity that had the explosive power to start a chain reaction within Genesis. He did so, and he survived only because someone he cared deeply about, told him to live.”

Silence reigned in the court room before one of the tribunal judges asked, “You stated that you were fighting outside of Genesis. How did you know what went on inside?”

“Cagalli Attha willed the record to me,” Yuki heard his father state. “I will submit the audio record from the mobile suit she piloted during the war into evidence.”

“Mom...” he barely heard Nicolai's anguished whisper over the noise that had risen up in the room.

As the court called for silence and order, Yuki found himself reaching up but hitting his face plate on his helmet in an attempt to wipe tears that had sprung into his eyes. He wasn't sure whether or not he was happy that his aunt had the foresight to do such a thing, or incredibly sad as to just how much of a toll the war had taken on not only his parents, but also Cagalli and Athrun. Even though it had been a few days for Inga, Lenore, Nicolai, and him since their return from C.E. 73, it had been a long time for the others. He knew that Cagalli had been right in her words to them: he and his friends never fought in a war, never lost loved ones, and didn't sacrifice until there was nothing left to sacrifice for peace.

Lenore, Nicolai, Inga, those other three ZAFT pilots, that OMNI pilot Keiko, and he – it was up to their generation now to keep the peace.

* * *

_Later..._

 

The artificial moonlight was bright, but not bright enough that even the sliver that streamed into the cells illuminated much. Still, Athrun remained lying where he was on the concrete slab, unable to sleep. Though he was still wearing his uniform, he knew that he should shed it so that it wouldn't wrinkle. Yet at the moment, he just wanted to lay there in silence and let his thoughts drift.

Rolling so that he was lying on his left side, he tucked his left arm under his head as his right hand picked up the necklace that had spilled out of his partially unbuttoned uniform. Canaver had personally given him both the stone and the pin back before he had been marched to the court house, though he had detached the winged pin from the cord and placed it in its proper place upon his uniform. The necklace had been secured around his neck and tucked inside.

He hadn't been allowed to see or talk to Kira since his friend had given his time line statement. He knew that he would probably never see Kira again until he was requested for a character statement. After that... it was up to the tribunal to either set him free or condemn him to death. He wasn't afraid to die, but he desperately wanted to ask Kira why Cagalli had done such a thing. He never wanted his father, no matter how zealous he had become at the end, to be remembered for his last words, his final order to him. Now, all Patrick Zala would truly be remembered for was his actions in the war, not for all the good he had done for the PLANTs before the war as a Council member.

The sounds of the cell block door opening caused him to snap out of his troubling thoughts as he rose part way up to see who was visiting him this late at night. As far as he knew, the tribunal were still discussing amongst themselves about the established time line. Several other veterans in the war had been called in after Yzak and Kira to ensure that the time line was made robust and as close to the truth as possible. Though, considering that the crew of the _Vesalius_ had perished during the war, and only Yzak and Kira were the only ones able to verify more intimate details in the time line, the tribunal would have to accept both of their stories, even if Kira was also going to be on trial later.

Athrun had not been surprised that Dearka had not been called to testify, since his former teammate looked to be on the _Archangel_ in secret or otherwise did not want the public to know he was here. He appreciated the sentiment that his former teammate had in the attempt to break him out, but there were more important things to worry about than his immediate freedom.

Footsteps approaching his cell caused him to sit completely up, tensing slightly – he didn't recognize the gait. While he thought that some of Dearka's people were still standing guard outside, he wasn't too confident about that assumption. However, when the person approaching hit the sliver of artificial moonlight that shone through the high cell windows, he narrowed his eyes slightly. He had been wondering when this encounter would happen, and now, it looked like fate would oblige him.

“Chief Representative Seiran,” he flatly greeted, standing up as the man stopped and stood before him.

“Athrun Zala,” Seiran answered in an equally neutral tone. “Or do you still prefer to go by Alex Dino?”

 

~*~*~*~

 


	4. Chapter 3: ...By Any Other Name

**Chapter 3: ...By Any Other Name**

_C.E. 93, Orb, Earth..._

 

Kira was quite glad that he had taken the heavy tray out of the oven and set it on the stove top to cool just before the slam of the front door reverberated throughout the house. He didn't even get time to turn fully around after taking his oven mitts off to see Nicolai storm into the dining room that was attached to the kitchen, with Yuki hot on his heels.

“What the hell, Dad?!” Nicolai yelled, as Kira saw him slam a data pad down onto the Morgenroete-issued laptop that Athrun had been working with. “That bastard has been dragging your alias through the mud all day and you haven't even said a word! Haumea, don't tell me you've been buried with work and didn't hear about it, because that is a bullshit excuse!”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kira saw Lacus come down the stairs, with Cari following her – both of them having been alerted by the noise. Since the beginning of the incident, he and his wife had flown here as quickly as they could, not only to support Athrun, Nicolai, and Cari, but to also be there just in case things became really bad.

Thus far since Chief Representative Seiran had attempted to claim Nicolai as his son, Athrun's strongly worded rebuttal had been issued, along with a DNA test done and sent to Seiran's desk. They had all hoped that that would be the end of it, but it had not been so. Cari had been pulled out of school so that she wouldn't continue to be subjected to bullying by her peers, and Lacus had taken upon herself to continue to teach her. Both Nicolai and Yuki were already in college and continued to attend their classes, but Kira had heard from his son that initially, there had been some people who had tried to pick fights with them.

That had all changed in the last twenty-four hours, as vicious rumors began to spread from various news networks about Athrun, or rather, 'Alex Dino' instead. Both he and Athrun, along with Lacus when she had not been busy teaching Cari, had seen and listened to the debasing vitriol being spouted. It was painful for Kira to listen to such false lies about his best friend, but unsurprisingly, Athrun had not even reacted to the words.

He immediately walked into the dining room, dragged Yuki away, and sent him into the living room of the house before drawing the double doors to the dining room close behind him. Pausing for a moment as he caught Lacus's concerned look towards him, he shook his head as he continued to hear Nicolai's somewhat muffled yelling at Athrun. Lacus merely walked over towards the other entrance to the kitchen and closed that door as well.

Walking away from the door, he silently gestured for Yuki to take Cari out of the house, and was grateful that his son did not rebel against his request. Lacus joined him on the couch, grasping his hands with hers as the front door closed. Neither of them could make out what exactly Athrun was saying, but it was clear that he was still in control of his temper, judging the fact that his voice was not raised when he spoke.

Minutes later, they heard another door slam, the back door this time, and then silence. Getting up, Kira knocked on the double doors, but there was no answer. Opening the doors partway, he saw that Athrun was standing near the table, holding the data pad that Nicolai had slammed down. “Athrun?” he asked, opening the doors fully as Lacus entered the room with him.

“He wanted me to tell Seiran who I really was. He honestly thought that if I revealed myself, Seiran would stop the attacks,” Athrun quietly answered, placing the data pad down, before looking up at them. “I wish it were that simple.”

* * *

_C.E. 96, Heliopolis II..._

 

“Chief Representative Seiran,” Athrun flatly greeted, standing up as the man stopped and stood before him.

“Athrun Zala,” Seiran answered in an equally neutral tone. “Or do you still prefer to go by Alex Dino?”

“If I recall correctly, you and the media completely destroyed Alex Dino, Chief Representative,” he stated in a mild tone.

“You let them destroy it,” Orb's leader countered. “You let them destroy Cagalli's gift to you. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together that she made sure you had an alias and background ready to go as soon as the _Kusanagi_ and _Archangel_ landed in Orb. You let them destroy the peaceful life you could have had--”

“If you're here to blame me for your misfortunes that had happened since the end of the war, just do so,” he interrupted him, trying to keep his anger in check. Everything in the cell was being recorded, and he did not know if Dearka's people were out there or not at the moment – he could not count on them to erase this footage.

“Your platitudes and false concerns are nothing more than a facade to hide behind. Go ahead and blame me for alienating Coordinators living in Orb with your humiliating attempt to claim _my son_ as your son. Go ahead and blame me for you being unable to pass laws for the past three years because of your inability to lead, compromise, or apologize to your constituents. Go ahead and blame me for stealing Cagalli away from you because I loved her, and she loved me. Go ahead and blame me, but don't you dare ever blame me for her death! That was on you, Yuuna Roma Seiran! You and your inability to get over your jealousy!”

Athrun had snarled those last few words, and even though his throat felt hoarse from saying it, it had felt good. Even more satisfying was the two steps that Seiran had taken to back away from the cell, eyes lit up in fear before quickly narrowing in suspicion.

“Why didn't you ever...?” Seiran asked after a few moments of silence.

“She wouldn't have wanted it,” he quietly answered, briefly looking away as the simmering rage that he had lived with for the past thirteen years within him, died as quickly as it had been released a few minutes ago. He felt calmer, more at peace now that he had said his piece, but he was slightly surprised at himself for not even wanting to be angry anymore.

Looking back, he looked at the leader of Orb square in the eyes and said, “It would have brought civil war directly to Orb, and possibly between Earth and the PLANTs again. I couldn't and will never do that to her memory or legacy.”

* * *

_C.E. 83, Orb, Earth..._

 

He had been with her, sitting by her side in her last hours that were spent in pure agony. It didn't matter how much painkillers the doctors had pumped into her, her beautiful amber eyes still showed the pain she was in. Her golden hair, completely fallen out just an hour before, had been carefully arranged back around her head by him. He did it even though the doctors had told him to not get close to her, lest he potentially contract radiation poisoning. He didn't care and continued to hold her hand, even though she could not even feel his hand upon her anymore.

When Cagalli Yula Attha finally took her last breath, it was then that Athrun took several shuddering breaths one after the other, completely in disbelief. He stared at her, as the monotone flat line of the heart monitor continued to sound throughout the empty room. Eyes closed and not moving, it looked almost as if she was asleep... all except for the fact that her chest was not moving up and down. It was only when people dressed in chemsuits burst in that he partially snapped out of his fugue.

Forcibly hauled from where he was sitting, Athrun caught a glimpse of Yuuna Roma Seiran, also in a chemsuit, howling in despair as the man collapsed by the bedside. Everything became a blur to him, even though he heard Seiran order the chemsuited guards to take him away – that he had failed in his duty to protect Cagalli. Thrown outside, he skidded on the floor, and blinked as the haze continued to surround him.

He was barely aware that he was picking himself up off the floor out of sheer habit when he heard footsteps running towards him. He faintly heard Kira shout his name, and thought he saw Lacus running with Kira down the hall towards him. He remembered that Kira and Lacus had been the first people he contacted as soon as the doctors had determined that Cagalli had been poisoned by some radioactive material. Even with Kira flying as fast as he could from Reverend Malchio's island, they hadn't made it in time.

The two were stopped by other people in chemsuits – nurses – before they could reach him, and then, Athrun's vision was surrounded by many other people in chemsuits. He didn't protest, didn't even try to fight his way free. As they hauled him away to decontaminate and contain the possible spread of radiation, he could only stare at the room where the person he had vowed to protect with his life – the love of his life – was gone.

In the days he spent in an isolated ward in the hospital, being put through so many radiation tests, his mind and soul were trapped in a fog. When he was finally declared to be uncontaminated and released, it was Kira who knocked on the door to the room he had been isolated in. Looking up from his listless staring at the floor, he saw his friend enter.

“Athrun.”

“I'm... sorry, Kira,” he numbly said as he saw him approach with a set of folded black clothing in his hands. “I... I couldn't--”

He was suddenly engulfed in warmth, as he felt Kira embrace him tightly, saying, “It's not your fault, Athrun.”

Something in him finally broke as tears sprang into his eyes and he sobbed into Kira's chest. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, or whether or not it was just him shaking as he cried, but it didn't matter. Cagalli was dead.

At long last, Athrun could feel himself calming down, and though tears still wanted to fall from his eyes, he could feel the urge starting to fade. Little by little, he took deep breaths and lifted his head up. Tears were also in Kira's eyes; he had consoled him as much as Kira had consoled him. Kira pulled back a little, but still held him at arm's length.

“Is...” he began, but found that he could not finish his question, for even the thought of Cagalli being dead threatened to send him back into the fog that he had broken out of.

“It's today,” Kira said, taking a shuddering breath. He removed his right hand from Athrun's shoulder and gestured to the folded clothes sitting on the end of the hospital bed before wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “Lacus is waiting in the limo with the children.”

“T-thank... you,” he said, grateful that not only had Kira and Lacus immediately taken Nicolai and Cari under their care, but also that they kept caring for them, even in his current state of mind. He knew that he had to be strong for his children, now that their mother was-- he had to be strong for them. He had to be strong for Lacus and especially for Kira – Cagalli was his best friend's sister. He wasn't the only one who lost a loved one – Kira had lost her as well.

“I'll... I think I can do this,” he said, glancing at the clothes before nodding at Kira.

His friend held him a moment longer before letting go and stepped back. “We'll be waiting outside,” Kira said, before turning and leaving.

As soon as the door closed, Athrun stood up and picked at the clothes at the end of the bed. Slowly, he undressed and put the all-black suit on. Placing his other clothing in the small bag, he took the sunglasses that had been in the jacket's pockets and slipped them on. Taking a deep breath, he tried to steel his thoughts as best as he could – he needed to be strong for all of them.

Opening the door, he walked out and down the hall and to the elevator. Nurses and doctors that he passed nodded at him, some openly stared at him, while others scurried away for reasons unknown. However, on the first floor lobby, he was not surprised to see the press outside. Kira was waiting at the edge of the lobby and surprisingly, Yuuna Roma Seiran, was also present.

It was the barely perceptible thinning of Seiran's lips in anger that caused Athrun to internally frown. He was used to the disgusted, jealous, or even subtly hostile looks directed at him from the man who was officially Cagalli's husband, but this... this was new. It looked like Kira had not noticed the look that Seiran had given him, as the two of them turned and walked beside him out the door and into the waiting mob.

Fortunately it seemed that police and some of Orb's military had been called to press back the journalists and curious passerbys. Seiran, Kira, and Athrun reached the limo relatively unmolested. As soon as they got in, Athrun saw that Lacus had taken the furthest seat back and sat with the children: Yuki, Nicolai, and Cari. Little Cari and Nicolai scrambled forward to sit with him in the middle seat while Kira switched seats with the two children. Seiran took the front most seat and didn't say a word.

As the limo started moving and would take them to where Cagalli's state funeral would begin, Athrun felt his son and daughter slip their hands into his. He squeezed their hands gently as he looked at both of them. Cari was wearing a black dress and a hat with a veil over her face that was similar to what Lacus was wearing. Both Nicolai and Yuki were wearing all-black suits that were essentially miniature versions of what he and Kira were wearing. Seiran... because of his status as Cagalli's husband, was wearing the full military dress uniform and colors of Orb.

They were dropped off near the beginning of the processional. Because of just how Cagalli died, he implicitly understood that a viewing could not be done. He fuzzily remembered one of the doctors saying that he had been extremely lucky to not have become contaminated from just how radioactive Cagalli had become. However, the more he thought about the circumstances behind her death, the more suspicious he became, as he and the others walked the last few meters to line themselves up.

The clip-clip of horses drawing the lead-lined casket of Cagalli briefly shook him out of his thoughts as he and the others turned slightly to see the processional approaching. With his heart still freshly mourning but thoughts still focused, he knew it had to be no accident that Cagalli had been poisoned in the way she had been poisoned. Some may blame the fact that Orb's territories were part of a long ago site for nuclear testing, and therefore, contaminated water was incredibly remote, but still possible. Yet he remembered the nurses saying that the water supply in the hospital was not.

Poison of all colors were easily obtained through the black market – Athrun knew that – but radioactive materials used as poison... that was very specific and almost impossible... unless... He took a quick glance over towards Seiran, who was standing further up the procession and beginning to follow the horse drawn carriage. It was possible, that the poison had been intended for someone else, and that Cagalli had not been the target. But to smuggle it into the country without setting off alerts... that required knowledge of N-Jammer Canceller technology.

There was only one person he knew who had access to the inner workings of the Atlantic Federation during the war, and the necessary power to keep certain things being imported into Orb completely off the books. But Yuuna Roma Seiran was a shrewd politician and would never compromise himself in this kind of assassination attempt. No... if his suspicions were correct, the man would have influenced certain groups or others to do his dirty work... except that this time, it had gone all wrong. The wrong person had been killed, and Seiran would most likely have already dispatched people to 'clean' the mess up.

As the carriage and those following it passed him, Kira, Lacus, and the children by, they joined the crowd of dignitaries, officials, and Representatives. He glanced down to see Cari latching herself onto Lacus's right hand, while Yuki was grasping her left. Nicolai had stayed at his side, and Kira walked in between all of them. He focused his eyes on the carriage, and a little beyond, the casket that carried the body of his love. Blinking back fresh tears, he then looked back down at Nicolai before taking a quick look at Kira and Lacus.

He had to do this... he had to bring those responsible for Cagalli's death to justice before Seiran could silence them.

“Kira,” he softly stated. “Please... look after them until I return.” Kira's startled look at him was expected, even if those violet eyes of his held a small amount of fear in them from his words. “I will return,” he repeated, nodding once.

The sad, but understanding look that Kira gave him brought a glimmer of hope into his heavy heart. “Always,” Kira softly said.

Gently transferring his son's grip to Kira's hands, he patted Nicolai on the head in reassurance. Slowly, he slipped back and to the side as the crowds streamed by him until he broke free. With one final look at the state funeral processional, he then turned and ran.

* * *

_C.E. 96, Heliopolis II..._

 

“We both loved her,” he heard Seiran say. Athrun remained silent, wondering what the man was attempting to get at. However, Seiran did not say another word and merely walked away before knocking on the cell block door to have the guards open it. Left in the silence alone after the door closed, Athrun sat back down on the edge of the concrete slab and lifted the stone necklace up slightly.

Staring at it, a brief but bittersweet smile tugged at the corners of his lips, before he let it go and felt it settle against his chest. “Thank you, Cagalli,” he softly said into the silence.

* * *

“S-sir.”

Kira placed the mug of herbal tea that he had been drinking down into the sink as he looked up and saw one of the night guards within the house approach him with some trepidation. “Yes?” he asked, stepping clear and away from the sink to hopefully alleviate the nervousness that the guard was displaying, by showing him that he was not reaching for a weapon of sorts. The guard looked as if he had just graduated from Orb's military training, which the enlistment age was sixteen, and the young man didn't look older than that at all.

“Sir, I apologize for disturbing you, especially since it looks like you're about to turn in for the night, but my colleagues at the max sec prison just informed me that Chief Representative Seiran paid Commander Zala a visit. I thought you'd want to know.”

“Thank you,” he answered, nodding, but did not say anymore, even though he was curious as to why one of the guards would tell him that.

Turning back to the sink, he stepped back towards it and reached for the faucet handle as the guard went back to his post. However, before he was able to turn the water on, the young guard suddenly paused and said, “Sir, I don't agree with what Chief Representative Seiran has done to you, Ms. Clyne, or Commander Zala.”

He glanced over at him, slightly puzzled by his words, and asked, “What Chief Representative Seiran did in arresting us was a joint effort with Chairwoman Canaver, and Prime Minister Stephanopolos.”

“I mean,” the young guard began, looking slightly ashamed, “I mean what he did to all of you when Chief Representative Attha died. My father... he was there as part of the guards with Representative Seiran that day. He couldn't disobey the Representative's orders to throw Commander Zala out of that room, nor could he disobey the orders to bar you and Ms. Clyne from seeing Chief Representative Attha's body until the next day. My father didn't want to do any of that, but... he told me regrets what he had done not only that day, but countless of other times.”

“Your father was not at fault,” Kira stated. “He had a family to support, and we both know that any disobedience of orders that cannot be proven as unlawful, will result in court martial and time served in prison.”

“Sir... what I'm trying to get at is, sir, you, your wife, and Commander Zala have friends here in Heliopolis II,” the guard said, pulling his helmet off to reveal his face. “I'm Daneel Barton,” the young man introduced himself. “My fathers, Hikaru and Leslie, served as guardsman and secretary, respectively, to Chief Representative Attha. Shortly after she died though, Hikaru joined the crew of the _Archangel_ , while Leslie remained as secretary to Chief Representative Seiran, strictly out of duty.”

“I remember Cagalli had two secretaries, Joseph and Leslie,” he said, smiling slightly as he remembered the one time he had arrived early enough for an unofficial meeting/talk with Cagalli to hear Leslie grumble about Joseph's atrocious note taking skills. Back then, he had to silently agree with the man's complaints – he had seen Joseph's handwriting before, and it was almost like a doctor's indecipherable scribble.

“I'm glad to hear your fathers are doing all right,” he continued to say, though as he tried to wrack his memories, he really could not remember what the guardsmen who were stationed around the Orb government offices looked like. He suppose that it was better to have them blend in than stand out. Most of the time though, Cagalli's visits were without guards and always accompanied by Athrun.

“Sir, the _Archangel_ is currently docked here. Just say the word and I'll inform the team--”

“Don't,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “I know you mean well, and I thank you for it, but don't. Too much is at stake here, Daneel. This was a long time coming, and the people need that closure. Just... let everything take its course.”

* * *

_C.E. 85, PLANT Colony: Decembrius 2..._

 

“So... what are you going to do with this bitch, Dino?”

Athrun saw former ZAFT black ops infiltrator, Yelena Korsakoff, nudge the unconscious doctor with enough force from the tip of her boot so that the doctor rolled over. All around the two of them were dead bodies of those extremists who had smuggled and hidden Dr. Hadrian from them. It had taken two long and arduous years to get to this point, to finally find the one who had killed Cagalli.

Neither he nor Yelena had needed to beat a confession out of Dr. Hadrian – she had tearfully surrendered as soon as both of them had killed everyone else in the warehouse. She had then confessed to what she had done: she had been the one to lace one of the two cups of tea that the nurses brought in for Cagalli. She, the doctor who had treated and cared for Cagalli since she had been little, had been the one to do such a thing, except that... Cagalli had just happened to drink the wrong cup.

The radioactive poison had been intended for him.

“Hey, Dino, are you even listening to me?” Korsakoff said, jabbing him with a finger quite hard into his arm that caused him to glare at her. It had been Korsakoff, not him, who had proceeded to beat Dr. Hadrian after that confession, until the doctor lost consciousness. Now, they were standing over her bruised and battered body.

“What the hell did you do that for, Korsakoff? She confessed. She was going to cooperate,” he angrily said.

“She tried to kill you. Coordinators don't fucking kill other Coordinators!” the former operative hissed at him. “Not since that bastard Chairman Zala died!”

Athrun gritted his teeth but remained silent. He wanted to shake her out of her idealism, but given that she was a former ZAFT black ops operative, he knew that she wasn't speaking from naivete – she understood just how much the war had cost the Coordinators. In the two years that he had pursued and hunted down those who had a hand in helping Dr. Hadrian plan the assassination and escape in the aftermath, he had learned just how much the war had really cost those living in the PLANTs and on Earth.

Coordinator populations from the second generation had dropped over fifty percent. Third generation populations – the generation that he was born in – had dropped nearly sixty percent. Most of the drop had come from the casualties sustained at JOSH-A, Jachin Due, Victoria Base, and the battle at Genesis. Maintaining a working, viable population and sustainability had been incredibly difficult, even with new marriage laws passed. Research and development laboratories had even reconsidered opening long-closed research into growing life in test tubes, though last he heard about that, Chairwoman Canaver had not authorized such things yet.

Because of the population crisis, to have a Coordinator kill another Coordinator was considered illegal now. However, that particular law was not even known outside of the PLANTs, for no one wanted to let Earth or OMNI know just how crippled they had become. One leak, and the war would reignite, and this time, the PLANTs would not have had the advantage they had before. Thus now, they had to proceed with caution.

“Let's search the computers,” he said, turning and walking away to the nearest terminal in a stiff manner. “A recorded confession is not going to be enough. We need absolute evidence, money trail, messages, whatever we can find to solidify that confession.”

As he typed away, Korsakoff followed his lead, but asked, “What are you going to do with the doctor now, Dino?”

“Bring her to the proper authorities and make sure that justice is served,” he said as he continued to look through files after files, marking ones that were useful and ones that were not.

“I may not be an Orb citizen like you, Alex Dino, but I've read and seen enough about the country to know that that man who rules now will not give the doctor a fair trial,” the former operative quietly stated. “Chief Representative Attha inspired a lot of people, Coordinators up here included. I can safely say that we would like to see her killer brought to justice as well, but in a fair trial. You can leave the doctor here and I'll make sure the proper authorities are notified.”

Athrun paused in his reading as he looked up. “I know,” he quietly answered. “While I wish I could do that, I can't. I can't... I can't do that to Cagalli's memory.”

He bit the inside of his lip – it had been two years since he had even uttered her name, much less thought about her in detail since her death. He knew that he hadn't given himself time to properly mourn, and had been consumed with finding her killer or killers. He had hoped that such a thing would help him cope with her death, but now that his journey was over, he found it hard to go back.

Thankfully, Korsakoff didn't even say a word to him, or attempt to physically comfort him as he had feared she would. She had merely nodded before returning to her own search. They typed away in silence for a few minutes before she spoke up, saying, “Dino, if you ever need a favor done – any favor – just ask. While I may not have known Chief Representative Attha as you have known her, she was the hope for all of us to have a more peaceful future. While I hope that that peace will last without her guiding hand, I'm glad to have have an opportunity to help you. Thank you for giving a soldier a chance at redemption.”

* * *

_48 Hours Later, Outside of Orb Territorial Waters, Earth..._

 

Kira gently placed the storybook down on the dresser as he carefully got up from the chair he had been sitting in. Quietly leaving the room where the three children were fast asleep, he closed the door and as silently as he could, made his way down the hall and into the living room. There, he saw Lacus putting away the last of the toys that their son, along with Athrun and Cagalli's children, and the orphans whom they cared for, had been playing with. The television was on, but other than the future weather forecast being told, it seemed that the world was still at peace. Silently smiling at his wife, they both took a seat on the couch, leaning into each other, content on the silence that had fallen upon the house.

It had been a wild day today, especially with the children watching the launch of the last of the supplies to Heliopolis II before it would be declared ready for emigration. Soon, Kira, Lacus, and their son, Yuki, would be leaving Earth and emigrating to Heliopolis II, since there were still a few things he and the others on the project needed to work on. The orphans would be going as well, though there were many families that had expressed interest in adopting them once they got to the colony. Neither he nor Lacus had discussed whether or not they would be taking Athrun and Cagalli's children though. Athrun had promised to return, but it had already been two years, and they didn't know where he was. They didn't want to have him return to Orb to find an empty house, but neither did they want to leave the children on Earth.

Because the children were technically a part of Orb's nobility, Heliopolis II had been built much like its predecessor – autonomy in governance without a noble present. It was designed to give the residents of the colony a semblance of independence but with trade relations with Orb, even though everyone on the colony were still Orb citizens. The children had no concept of rulership or exerting authority, but they were part of the noble class.

The peace that had enveloped them was suddenly shattered with the images that appeared in the middle of the forecast. What was on the screen immediately had both of them untangling themselves from their comfortable position together, as Kira leaned forward and upped the volume ever so slightly. “... breaking news that the assassin of Orb's former Chief Representative, Cagalli Yula Attha, was found and arrested by ZAFT forces on PLANT Colony Junius 10.”

The news feed then cut to Chairwoman Canaver in a press conference, saying, “Dr. Lisa Hadrian is currently under ZAFT custody. She has confessed to the assassination of Chief Representative Attha, and we have found further evidence to support that claim. We are aware that Dr. Hadrian is currently registered as dual citizen of Orb and the PLANTs, and thus we are in contact with Orb's government with regards to extradition rights...”

Kira slowly became aware that Lacus was calling out his name as he blinked back the tears that had formed in his eyes. Still stunned by the news, he found himself being pulled into his wife's comforting embrace as she gently stroked the top of his head and rubbed his back. His grief for his sister rose up in a fresh bout, but with it also came relief – someone, and he didn't care who had, had found the person who had murdered Cagalli.

“Is that what you have been doing for the past two years?” he heard Lacus softly say. Glancing up as he rapidly blinked away the tears in his eyes that had fallen, he saw that she was not looking at the television any longer, but was looking towards the entrance to the kitchen. Puzzled and slightly concerned, he pulled away and turned his head towards where she was looking. His eyes widened in surprise at who was standing at the threshold between the kitchen and living room.

“Athrun...” he managed to utter.

He looked different, as Kira stared at him, having not even heard him enter from the back or land any sort of aircraft on the island. It was not just physical, especially with his scraggly dark blue hair that nearly touched his shoulders, but it was those startling intense green eyes of his. Those eyes of his best friend held an unfathomable amount of sadness that made him look twice as old as he really was – as if he had lived too many tragic lives over and over again.

Two years... Athrun had spent two years hunting down the person who had killed Cagalli—Kira got up from where he was sitting and approached his best friend. Swiftly embracing him, he felt him stiffen, clearly startled by his actions, but did not let go. “Thank you,” he said, squeezing his eyes close as he tried not to cry again. “Thank you, Athrun.”

He held onto him for a few more moments before feeling him take a deep, shuddering breath of relief, relaxing somewhat as he exhaled. Athrun had long dried his tears, and he knew that though they all still mourned for Cagalli, they would keep themselves strong in memory of what she had done to reunite them. Letting go a moment later, he stepped back, just as he saw Athrun silently nod in thanks.

“I... I need to tell both of you something,” Athrun said a moment later.

Shutting the television off, the three of them made their way to the dining room and sat at the table, though Athrun shook his head no when Lacus asked if he wanted some water. As soon as they sat down, Kira saw him pull out a small object before tossing it onto the table so that it landed in the middle. It was a swept-winged pin of sorts, but there was something significant about it, if Athrun was showing it to them.

“FAITH,” he heard Lacus whisper in surprise, and saw her glance up from the pin and at Athrun with astonishment written all over her face. “When...?”

“Twelve years ago,” Athrun answered, folding his hands together and placing it on the table. “When the older Cari and I took her mobile suit to the PLANTs and rendezvoused with the _Eternal_ and her crew. Chairwoman Canaver offered to help us indirectly break _Silverbird_ 's pilot out. She suspected that the pilot was different and perhaps not aligned to OMNI or Earth, even with what she was wearing and piloting. She wanted us to get rid of the problem so that she did not have to accuse OMNI or Earth of violating the treaty. She then offered me that pin. I accepted it because as much as I wanted Cagalli's ideal world to be reality, I knew that it would not be possible without the necessary force to back it.”

“What is FAITH?” Kira asked, “and did Cagalli know?”

“Cagalli knew about my association with FAITH,” Athrun answered. “It is a position appointed by the Chairperson of the PLANTs to those within ZAFT. Most call and know it as the Special Forces branch of ZAFT, thinking that it is a specialized combat force. All who are brought in though, are held directly accountable to the Chairperson. The position is permanent, even if the Chairperson changes. That's because both the Chairperson and FAITH members serve the will of the people. Generally, all FAITH members will be aligned with the Chairperson's leadership and views, but...”

“Your father, Athrun,” Lacus softly spoke up.

Athrun silently nodded, before blowing out a noisy breath as he unclasped his hands and laid them on the table. “He... I don't know if he was aware of the consequences that could arise by appointing anyone to FAITH. I suppose that he just wanted to make sure that he had direct control over my actions. Every person within FAITH is supposed to be an extension of the Chairperson, but also carry and serve the will of the people. Cohesion between members and the Chairperson were supposed make the leadership of the PLANTs stronger. I didn't know that when I challenged his rhetoric.”

Kira saw him pause for a few moments, as if collecting his thoughts. “I stopped advising Cagalli shortly after I accepted Canaver's offer. I couldn't risk my secret association with ZAFT again, to give any enemies that Cagalli had, any incentives to come at her in a politically damaging manner. I also kept the position as a last-minute backup option, a thing to bargain with – with Canaver, should war start again. I should have never done either of those things, otherwise I would have possibly seen the assassination coming--”

“Athrun!” Kira said, immediately reaching out and across to grasp his right hand that was balled up into a white-knuckled fist. “It's not your fault--”

It was apparently the wrong thing to say as his friend lashed out, saying, “They had been planning this for years! I found that information within the databases where Dr. Hadrian and the people that helped her escape had hid her. She was associated with something called 'The Mendel Project'.”

Kira's eyes flew wide open as he abruptly let go of Athrun's hand. He thought that he had successfully wiped all traces and databases of the project that had created the 'Ultimate Coordinator', shortly after the war had ended. Yet it seemed that Athrun and Lacus had mistaken his startled movement as just surprise as Athrun continued, saying, “They had biometric data on Cagalli, data that no one shouldn't even have if they're born Natural or Coordinator. Hadrian... she had been sent down to Orb long ago to keep any eye on Cagalli, because of her biometrics. They considered it a miracle that she managed to have two healthy children after her first one was stillborn. When she was taken to the hospital that day, they were supposed to abduct her, not kill her.”

“You were supposed to be the target then,” Lacus concluded. “Because they studied your patterns and knew that you would defend Cagalli, and hunt down each and every one of them until they were no longer a threat.”

“Yes,” Athrun's hoarse whisper of affirmation after he bowed his head towards the table horrified Kira. He looked over towards Lacus, seeing tears brimming in her eyes. Reaching out with his other hand, he squeezed his wife's hand in reassurance and looked back at Athrun.

“Why,” Kira began, swallowing to wet his suddenly parched throat, “Why did they have biometric data on Cagalli? Where and when did it come from?”

Athrun slowly raised his head and silently shook his head. “I don't know. They just had it. I wiped it before I took Hadrian to Canaver, along with the relevant data she needs for the courts.”

“Lacus... Athrun,” he began after they sat there in silence for a few long moments, “I think I know where that data about Cagalli may have come from.”

He caught both of their surprised, yet curious looks at him as he withdrew his hand from Lacus. Reaching into his back pocket where he constantly carried the laminated photo as a reminder of what did not need to be repeated in the future, he placed it on the table and pushed it to the center. It was the same photograph that Cagalli had had, except his was from a deep, dark place that he had hoped to never have to mention ever again.

“I never wanted to tell Cagalli or either of you this, because I hoped that this would never happen again and that everything that happened there would just fade into the unknown. Too many lives were sacrificed for this... the experiment that was called 'The Mendel Project'.”

He fell silent for a second before saying, “I went back to the L4 cluster, specifically to the remnants of Mendel Colony, where I found this picture. I thought I had wiped every database, server, and hard drive... but, it now looks like I had missed at least one... or one made it off the colony before it was abandoned. 'The Mendel Project' had another name, known to the scientists working on it – the 'Ultimate Coordinator' Project. Their goal was to successfully grow a human being from conception to birth in an artificial womb. To successfully remove all potential variables that could occur in a natural womb.”

“Hundreds of embryos were created and grown in vats, all conceived in part by Dr. Ulen Hibiki, the leader of the project. His sponsor was Al DaFllaga, who in turn, requested that part of the funds be used to create clones of himself. The woman in that picture--” he said, pointing to the lady that was holding him and Cagalli when they had just been born “--was the primary egg donor out of all the scientists there. Cagalli was among those initially created but had not yet been 'bred', so to speak. The embryo that was Cagalli did not have any heavy genetic modifications done yet.”

“They had found out that male embryos were more viable and robust than female ones, and thus began destroying all the female embryos. The doctor managed to save one – Cagalli, and artificially inseminated herself to prevent Dr. Hibiki from retaliating. She passed her saving Cagalli as a means for comparison, another experiment between Naturals and Coordinators, if you will.”

It was difficult for him to continue to talk, but he knew that he had to push on, if only to give Athrun some closure. “Even though they had found that male embryos were more robust and potentially could survive an artificial womb, many died. Only one survived. I was 'born' thirty minutes after Cagalli.”

Silence hung over the three of them, uncomfortable, revelatory, and shocking. “I'm sorry, Athrun. I should have done a more thorough check at the colony. I didn't know that there were still scientists besides my adopted parents who survived. They're the one who smuggled Cagalli and I out. Our biological mother was supposed to have destroyed the lab, but she was probably stopped,” he said, breaking the silence.

“So it was a joint Coordinator-Natural project?” Athrun asked after a few minutes of more silence.

“Yes,” he answered, though far be it that his friend had acknowledged his admission, there was the most curious of looks on his face.

“Cagalli's biometric data was the only thing I didn't give to Canaver,” his friend said after a few moments, taking a quick look at the picture before focusing his eyes on both him and Lacus.

“I don't know if she will let the courts use this particular data, but there is something you should know about what is happening in the PLANTs, Kira. Because of the war, the population sustainability of the Coordinators on the PLANTs has become critical. Not only is it mandatory that all citizens of child-bearing age produce at least one child, but they have considered creating artificial wombs. All independent of that 'Mendel Project' it seems...or so I assumed before this.”

“I don't know what exactly they were going to use Cagalli for, but some of the data looked like she or those living on the Moon near the ZAFT facility, were to be a carrier of sorts for a biological virus that affects Naturals. They wanted to weaken Earth, just in case someone got wind of the vulnerability of the PLANTs. This, and the artificial womb project were going to be strictly implemented by Coordinators who used the Blue Cosmos name as a deterrent for their extremism.”

“They were going to propose the viability of the projects to various Council members they had under their control, and influence Canaver. It would have worked, except that when I looked at their database, some of the data looked similar to a certain autopsy of a neural-linked person. I gave the data to Canaver, with my recommendation to immediately terminate everything.”

“Athrun, that's...” Lacus began, looking worried, “are you sure you didn't change the future by doing that?”

“I don't know.”

Kira thought that his friend would also say that he didn't care, but surprisingly, the words were not uttered. He knew that Athrun knew what Lacus was talking about. By potentially axing the rebuild or restart of the 'Mendel Project', even without the Ultimate Coordinator goal,it seemed that the shadows were already moving faster than anticipated. They had all thought that it was a resurgent and much stronger Blue Cosmos who had attacked them with the time travel and transported asteroid, but now...

“They will begin again,” he softly said, folding his hands together while looking at the picture and the swept-winged pin sitting side-by-side. “If one database managed to escape Mendel, there may be others out there. They will begin again in the shadows, but if they do reach their peak whenever they transport the Junius 7 piece, we will need to be ready for them.”

“I will have the _Eternal_ and her crew station themselves in the L4 cluster as much as possible,” Lacus said. “The _Archangel_ will engage in long-range patrols whenever they can be spared.”

Both he and Athrun nodded in agreement with the idea. “Athrun,” he began, hesitating for a moment, as he looked up and caught his friend's eyes with his own.

“I know, Kira,” Athrun answered. “I know that Cagalli would have never approved of it again, not after the first time. Not after we promised her to never to do such a thing again. But if we don't... then will the peace she wished remain?”

“We won't rebuild _Freedom_ and _Justice_ ,” Kira said, shaking his head slightly, hearing the clear anguish within Athrun's tone. “We will build new ones, better ones. Gundams that will anger the people, but also trap and stop those extremists once and for all. _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_.”

* * *

_C.E. 96, Heliopolis II..._

 

Athrun blinked as he artificial sun hanging in the sky of the colony hit him right in the eyes as he paused where he was looked around. The guards surrounding him and escorting him to the court house, were kind enough to allow him to pause for this one moment and have a final look around. Character statements from various individuals who knew him were given earlier today, and they were just about finished taking them down.

Per ZAFT tribunal rules, he had not been allowed to attend or hear the statements, since the tribunal did not want any undue influence that he may inadvertently have due to his physical presence in the court room. As he and the guards continued to walk, he saw another set of guards escorting two people away from the courthouse. He and his escorts paused where they were to allow the two who had just given their character statements to the tribunal to pass by. It was all protocol, for there had been many a times where accused and those who had given statements interacted on a less pleasant basis when passing each other.

He would have never found a reason to fault Kira and Lacus, the two that the guards were currently escorting out of the courthouse. With his hands bound though, all he could do was follow them with his eyes as they spotted him across the a little ways away from them. Giving them a hopeful smile, even though he was unsure of just how the tribunal would rule, he received one in return from them. Even if he did not walk free by the end of the day, he knew that they would – they would have to, in order to finish what the three of them started long so long ago--

“Attention please! Attention please,” a pre-recorded voice suddenly blared out from the public speakers located all around the colony. “Evacuation level has been set to Condition Three! As a precaution, we urge all citizens of Heliopolis II, please begin making your way to the lifeboats. Again, we repeat--”

Athrun looked up into the skies as concerned murmurs broke out around him. Even though there were tons of thick concrete, dirt, and other materials blocking his view of space, he could imagine quite well what had happened. The extremists who falsely perpetuated the Blue Cosmos name to hide their true intentions, were attacking.

The Battle for Heliopolis II had begun.

 

~*~*~*~

 


	5. Chapter 4: The Sundered Edge

**Chapter 4: The Sundered Edge**

_C.E. 96, Heliopolis II..._

 

The door to the pilots' lockers slid open as Nicolai finished clipping the chest support piece together on his flight suit. Looking up, he saw General Kisaka float in, headed directly to where he and Yuki were. “Sir?” he asked as Kisaka stop himself by hooking onto one of the nearby lockers. Though neither he nor Yuki had gone through military training in Orb, he considered their time travel back to C.E. 73 a very well-versed crash course in basics. That being said, Kisaka always elicited a small amount of trepidation from him – the man was intimidating, even when he had been younger.

“I'm taking _Vanguard_ and the two of you off the CAP roster for today. I don't think the two of you should be going out at the moment, given the circumstances,” Kisaka stated.

“But sir--” he began, before he felt Yuki's hand on his left arm.

“We understand, sir,” his cousin stated.

However, none of them got to say another word as the battle station alert suddenly sounded that was further emphasized by the flashing red strobes as the CIC officer on deck suddenly stated, “Battle stations! Battle stations! Set condition one! Pilots to your mobile suits! This is not a drill!”

Nicolai caught Kisaka's nod at them – nothing mattered at the moment except to get out there and find out what was attacking Heliopolis II. As he snatched his helmet and jammed it on his head, clipping and securing it to his flight suit as he followed Yuki and other pilots out to the hangar bay, he had a feeling that whoever was attacking them would be quite familiar. What he and the others had discussed in the park a few days ago seemed almost impossible, but given the circumstances, the impossible was most likely now reality.

There was also the matter of several important military officials on Heliopolis II at the moment, along with an enormous media frenzy that had taken hold. His father, along with Lacus and Kira sure did know how to attract the most unpleasant of crowds, he bitterly thought to himself as he entered the hangar bay. Heading straight towards _Vanguard_ , he entered the mobile suit first and strapped himself in as Yuki entered after, and was already closing the hatch.

Powering up all internal systems as his cousin maneuvered the mobile suit to the launch rails, he grimly loaded all IFF data into his console. Most mobile suits needed to be clear of their respective ships to begin picking up IFF data, but since the incorporation of the chip they had extracted from the purported Blue Cosmos soldier, _Vanguard_ didn't need to be outside to see what was going to greet them.

“Blue Cosmos,” he stated over the private com channel he had open with Yuki. “Or at least whatever the hell we fought against back in C.E. 73. Multiple contacts, transmitting data to all ships and mobile suits.”

~~~

Lenore didn't even bother with the wig as she snapped the last clasp on her flight suit closed. Snatching her helmet up, she heard Dalton's surprised exclamation, “Captain Joule?” Looking up, she saw her commander enter the lockers, dressed in a flight suit. Was he going to sortie with them?

“Data from _Vanguard_ just arrived,” Joule stated. “Those same people who attacked the Junius 7 Memorial are here, except in greater numbers than they had at the Debris Belt. There are at least a hundred enemy mobile suits out there. Our priority is to defend the colony until they can bring their shielding system up. Once that is done, it's open season on those bastards. Good hunting, pilots.”

“Sir!” the four of them smartly answered, giving their commander a crisp salute before following him out to the hangar bay.

A hundred mobile suits against the combined forces of ZAFT, OMNI, and Orb would have not been a problem, except for the fact that they had all had a minimal amount of mobile suits present. While their numbers were more than an escort, it was less than optimal. Lenore knew that she could not worry about the odds being against them all, nor of the fact that because of the odds, even their commander thought to sortie with them. She had to concentrate on the here and now, and use every single piece of experience she had acquired back in C.E. 73, to fight against these neural-linked pilots.

Soaring out into the hangar bay, she flew and hooked herself into her mobile suit. Snapping and securing her helmet on, she closed the cockpit and powered up all systems. Getting a good green reading, she tromped out of the bay and into her launch tube. As soon as the lights snapped clear, she declared to CIC, “ _Sentinel_ , launching!” A moment later, she was shot out of the tube and immediately activated the phase-shift armor of her mobile suit.

Flying clear of the _Bartolomeo_ , she heard the calls of her teammates, along with their commander over the shared com. Tuning into the general battle com, she also heard the other pilots of their allied fleet check in. IFF data being broadcast real-time on the corner of her screen from _Vanguard_ showed the enemy mobile suits approaching in a staggered manner. From where she was, she could only see the pinpoint reflected lights off of the enemy suits, but they looked to be a lot more coordinated than she remembered them to be.

“What are they doing?” she heard the OMNI pilot, Keiko ask over the general com frequency. “What the hell are they waiting for?”

She checked _Vanguard_ 's transmission of battle data and saw that they enemy mobile suits were indeed halted in their approach. They were just barely out of optimal weapons range of the ships, as she heard Captain Joule order the _Bartolomeo_ to maintain its distance to the enemy. That order was echoed by the captains of the _Kusanagi_ and _Cygnus_ as they arrayed their weapons to point right at the center mass of the enemy.

“No N-Jammer Canceller readings from the mass,” she heard Andrew broadcast over the general frequency. “No nuclear spikes—shit! EMP!”

Lenore's eyes widened as not a second later, a cascade static in the form of an enormous bright blue-white wave was suddenly released from the latticed enemy mobile suits towards them. It traveled so quickly that she did not even get a chance to gun her engines to maximum to try to outrun the EMP. It hit every single mobile suit and ship defending Heliopolis II, before plowing directly into the colony itself.

~~~

One moment, Kira was sprinting towards the docking bay where the _Eternal_ along with their mobile suits were impounded, the next he found himself, Lacus, and others of the _Archangel_ crew floating through the air, with a familiar sensation of his stomach flip-flopping. As soon as the evacuation order had started to blare, those crew members of the Archangel who had been assigned as guard detail to him and Lacus had knocked out the few Orb guardsmen around them. He had also seen across the way where Athrun was being escorted to the courthouse, another faction of _Archangel_ 's crew also knock out those not aligned with them.

Catching Lacus's outstretched hands before reaching out to grab a light pole, he slowed and stopped both of them before settling them as close to the ground as possible. Others around them tried to stop themselves as well. The colony's gravity was mainly established by the centrifugal force of the rotation, but there were some gravity generators also built into the system as a fail safe. Only an incredibly strong electromagnetic pulse would be able to disable both functions – which it looked like it did. He didn't think that the neural-linked enemy would fire such a thing, considering that it could possibly fry their own systems, but anything was possible at the moment.

“Kira!” he heard Athrun call out to him and saw him float over towards them. _Archangel_ crew members were following him, and surprisingly, former ZAFT mobile suit pilot, Dearka Elsmann, was among the crew.

“It has to be an EMP,” he stated. “It's the only way it could take out the primary and secondary gravity systems. That also means that the generators powering the secondary gravity wells are offline and won't be able to bring up the shields. _Kusanagi_ is the only ship that has the ability to interface with the external part of the generators.”

“Dearka,” Athrun immediately said, “Get the rest of your team to the _Archangel_ and inform Captain Ramius of the situation. The three of us and those two--” he gestured to two of the crew members who were following them “--will break Captain Bartfeld and his people out.”

“Understood,” Elsmann answered, and gestured for the teams to follow him back to their ship.

The five of them didn't waste any time and floated as quickly as they could towards the docking bay. Though he wasn't as well versed in hand-to-hand combat as Athrun was, especially in null-gravity, Kira followed his lead. He pushed off with as much strength as possible, barreling towards a startled guard who had just gotten his bearings without gravity. His momentum carried him into the guard, knocking him out with his rather forceful punch in his stomach. Rebounding slightly, he saw the other two that Athrun had tagged to help already headed inside to take care of the guards in the cell block.

Catching Lacus, they both made their way in, seeing Athrun and one of the other crew members knock out the last of the guards. He thought it was lucky that no one had fired a weapon of any sort, due to the lack of gravity that would anchor them down. Positioning himself at the keypad, he brought up the screen and typed in a long string of numeric code. A keyboard suddenly popped out from underneath the keypad, while the screen blanked out into a command prompt.

Typing in the necessary overrides, a few moments later, the cell block door slid open half-way. Athrun and the other two crew members pushed the rest of the door open. Kira reached down and grabbed the nearest unconscious guard and floated him in. The crew of the _Eternal_ , however small they were at thirteen people maximum that included their captain, had been sequestered in all five cells in this particular block.

“Hey!” Bartfeld greeted, as a couple of others cheered at the sight of them.

Pressing the unconscious guard's hand to the biometric sensor on the nearest door, the door then slid open a moment later as the first couple of the _Eternal_ 's crew members exited. Athrun had taken another unconscious guard and done the same to the other side of the cell block. When all of them were freed, Athrun told the two _Archangel_ crew members to return to their ship before it took off without them.

“Are you sure the two of you want to go through with this?” Bartfeld immediately asked as soon as the _Archangel_ crew members were gone. There was a searching look in the old captain's eyes, looking for any sign of doubt within his or Athrun's eyes.

“We have to,” he answered, nodding. “It's the only way to launch the second phase of the plan. They didn't fall for the bait at the Debris Belt, so we have to do it here.”

“You know that you're going to be hurting your children if you go through with this,” Bartfeld said, shaking his head slightly. “Even I can't guarantee that we're going to be able to control their actions as soon as you guys do what you're going to do.”

“They are strong,” Lacus spoke up, nodding in reassurance. “They will not falter or despair.”

The old veteran pinned all three of them with a shrewd look before saying, “Ramius personally informed me that _they've_ been installed per your contingency orders. Everything is ready.”

“Then we don't have time to waste,” Athrun said. “Let's go.”

~~~

Yuki could hear the subtly underlying frantic tone that Nicolai had whenever he was issuing data and orders to the various allied mobile suits. However, he couldn't chastise his cousin at the moment, being more focused on trying to _not_ get them killed as he unleashed a flurry of Helldart missiles from within the right hand of _Vanguard_. _Sentinel_ flashed across his screen as soon as his missiles had impacted and disabled two of the mobile suits that had gotten past those fighting on the front. Not a moment later, the mobile suits exploded, but he was already turning _Vanguard_ to face yet another threat as he sliced into another enemy Astray-derivative mobile suit with the shortened sabre.

Even after the EMP and their assumption that all mobile suits and ships had been disabled by it, the enemy had been taken by surprise with the fact that their attempt to disable all defense forces had not worked. It was Captain Joule who broadcast the order to immediately attack as soon as the EMP wave had dissipated, even though Yuki was left wondering how the hell did they and the others not get disabled. He knew that the mechanics on _Kusanagi_ had been tinkering with _Vanguard_ , since they had returned from C.E. 73, but he hadn't seen any new line of code except for upgrades to engines and thrusters.

Taking a quick look at the power levels on the mobile suit, he knew that he would have to use the sabre and the beam rifle sparingly. Those were the majority of the drain in their power besides their maneuvering to get out the line of fire. But he also had to watch the levels on the number of missiles within Vanguard's hands and clips from the Igestellungs attached to the side of the mobile suit's head. Still the enemy kept coming – even if the littered scraps of the first few waves were scattered all around the battlefield.

“ _Duel_ , pull back, you're over stretching--” he heard Nicolai say into the general com, as he saw the speck of the old Gundam directly thirty degrees from where _Vanguard_ was, but about five hundred meters away from the nearest support ship or allied mobile suit.

Considering just how old the mobile suit was, he was incredibly surprised that it was still functional even at this stage in the battle. It was also a testament to the skill of the pilot behind the Gundam – Joule certainly was a very talented pilot and, in Yuki's opinion, completely worthy of ZAFT's elite red uniform back in the day.

“Sir!” he heard Lenore's shout across the com channel, as the bright white mobile suit zipped from where it had skewered two mobile suits with its beam sabres, and headed towards the cluster of enemies that were starting to surround _Duel_. Before _Sentinel_ could reach _Duel_ , an wide yellow beam suddenly lanced out from behind all them, cutting across several enemy mobile suits that were around _Duel_ , giving its pilot enough of a room to cut and blast an opening to fall back.

“After all these years, I thought you would have learned to not overextend yourself, Yzak,” a droll voice cut into the general battle channel.

“Dearka?!” Joule exclaimed, but didn't get to say another word as a new, yet familiar voice also chimed into the channel.

“Lohengrins, fire!” the familiar voice of Captain Murrue Ramius ordered over the com.

Yuki physically turned Vanguard slightly around to see both _Buster_ Gundam and the _Archangel_ fire their most powerful weaponry. The crackling blue-red beams of _Archangel_ 's Lohengrins and the sickly yellow beam from _Buster_ 's massive beam cannon cut into the enemy mobile suits. Explosions, along with secondary ones cascaded throughout the impact point. On his tactical screen, Yuki saw that their combined firepower had carved quite a bit into wall of enemy mobile suits.

“Launching mobile armors! _Kusanagi_ , you are ordered to fall back to the external generator interface. The EMP completely disabled the gravity systems and its backup. Heliopolis II's shields will not go up without its power source!” Ramius stated.

“Copy and wilco,” came the crisp acknowledgment of Kisaka, as Yuki returned _Vanguard_ to the slowly condensing wall of enemy mobile suits again. A dent was made, but the enemy was still numerous. Checking power levels again, Yuki was worried that none of them would have enough--

“ _Vanguard_! Battle data!” the pilot of _Buster_ cut into his thoughts.

“ _Buster_ , _Silverbird_ , _Minuteman_ , concentrate all firepower on this area,” he heard Nicolai state, seeing a green triangle pop up on his HUD. “Mobile Armors and Zakus, shore up this area. _Albion_ , _Sentinel_ , _Duel_ , cluster this group together. _Valkyrie_ , Daggers, and _Meridian_ , punch a hole for _Cygnus_ and _Archangel_ 's Lohengrins.”

As the constant stream of data and strike orders continued to issue from Nicolai's lips, Yuki maneuvered _Vanguard_ more towards the forefront, pacing themselves with _Bartolomeo_ , the only ship in the battle that did not have Lohengrins. Because of the nature that the Lohengrins being fired by the OMNI ship, _Cygnus_ and _Archangel_ were made of, there was the risk of interference. He had already seen some evidence of that back in C.E. 73.

He saw _Valkyrie_ and _Meridian_ work in tandem, along with the Daggers that were still remaining fire all beam weaponry at once into a dense area within the enemy forces. A hole was successfully blown through, and just as the mobile suits scattered, _Cygnus_ 's main engines flared brightly as the ship quickly filled the hole that had been left--

“ _Cygnus_ pull back!” the frantic shout of _Meridian_ 's pilot, Andrew Barton, suddenly cut across the channel. “Nuclear spike--”

It was too late as a brilliantly bright light enveloped the OMNI vessel, completely destroying it. Electrical arcs danced around both _Meridian_ and _Valkyrie_ , immediately shutting down their phase-shift armors and leaving them dead in space. Daggers near them exploded from the overload. _Sentinel_ was already flying towards her teammates and managed to grab both of them with assistance from one of _Archangel_ 's mobile armor pilots, to keep them from tumbling into the dirty debris field that was rapidly forming.

“Haumea...” he heard Nicolai whisper over the com as the current wave of enemy mobile suits abruptly pulled back. Flying forward into the ranks the enemy had abandoned were a tight lattice that was wider, larger, and much greater than what they had initially encountered. Unusual transparent-red shielding was draped over a majority of the mobile suits' bodies, but in each of their hands, Yuki saw the tell-tale tips of missiles. He did not need a sensor to tell him that those missiles were nuclear.

Pulling up his keyboard, he quickly typed in a rough hack to the _Kusanagi_ and tunneled into their systems. The ship was interfaced with the colony, but the shielding system was only at fifty percent charge and no where near strong enough to deploy yet, much less stop the missiles. Dropping the hack and keyboard, he called up all weaponry that _Vanguard_ had left – it was not much, and certainly not enough to stop everything coming their way.

“All units, change beam weaponry frequency to two-six-five-dot-nine,” he heard Joule order over the channel. “That will punch through their shields.”

“Standby for optimal firing solutions,” Nicolai immediately stated as Yuki did as the ZAFT captain ordered. “Sending... now!”

Multiple targets lit up on his screen as he heard Nicolai whisper over their private channel, “It's not going to be enough...”

“It will have to be,” he answered as he tightened his grip on the throttles and readied himself to fire every single beam weapon and missile that _Vanguard_ had. “Heliopolis II cannot fall.”

“All units, fire!” Joule ordered a moment later, just as the enemy mobile suits launched their missiles.

He pressed the triggers, at nearly the same time as the other mobile suits, ships, and mobile armors did as well. A multitude of colors lanced out from the allied group in a desperate attempt to stop the nuclear missiles from obliterating them and the colony. A wall of white, brighter than what the max polarization on his face plate could sustain, blew up several hundred meters away from all of them.

Yuki had looked away when it got too bright, though could feel a tingly sensation crawl up and down his arms as the remnants effects of those missiles dissipated. However, as he looked back, his jaw dropped open. Far be it that even at max polarization that was fading back to normal, the rest of the missiles that he expected to be flying towards them were not there. He didn't get to question what had happened when the answer came not a split second later.

_Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_ barreled by all of them, engines blazing brightly as they fired every single weapon they had at the enemy mobile suits again.

~~~

“Lohengrins, fire!”

Kira triggered all beam weaponry to fire for a third time before Captain Ramius could finish her order. Releasing the DRAGOON pods from their housing as he raked his beam weaponry across an enormous swath of the enemy mobile suits, he stomped on the foot pedals, maneuvering _Strike Freedom_ this way and that, while multiple targets strayed into the crosshairs of the pods. With a quick application of multi-angle beam cannons from the pods, they were all destroyed. He could not afford to disable them, no matter how much he wanted to – they were too great of a threat to leave alive. He gunned the engines and shot up from where he was.

As expected, a flurry of the neural-linked mobile suits followed him. He out-maneuvered their attempts to shoot him, while he rolled and triggered his pods to shoot at what missiles they still carried. The nuclear explosions pushed a few off course, but the pilots were quick in their recovery. Peppering them with his CIWS and railguns, he caught a glimpse of _Infinite Justice_ raking two enemy mobile suits with his leg beam blades before the Fatum-01 unit ambushed another cluster that were trying to charge at Athrun.

Further away was the _Eternal_ and her crew of fourteen. Lacus was at the helm again, supporting and sending data from their own systems to _Infinite Justice_ and _Strike Freedom_. Kira had deliberately closed all coms to the others except to the _Eternal_ , _Archangel_ , and to Athrun. Neither of them wanted to burden _Vanguard_ or the others with their own fights. Both Kira and Athrun remembered that _Vanguard_ had done somewhat of an adequate job on its first foray into battle coordination all those years ago. It was also necessary to maintain silence – he did not want to hear the cries of despair, especially from his son, when he and Athrun triggered the trap.

Drawing out his dual beam rifles, he pursued another cluster of enemy mobile suits, firing as quickly as he could while his pods kept any pursuers off of him. He dove deeper and deeper into the heart of where the enemy forces were. It was all a part of the plan, and both he and Athrun needed to flush out the capital ship of the enemy before they could unleash the trap. Something had carried the mobile suits here – and it was most likely hidden under an enormous mirage colloid.

Inducing a barrel roll, he then fired two precise shots at two mobile suits in front of him before spinning up and out of the way of the nuclear explosions the suits triggered in proximity. He heard Lacus point out a enemy cluster location to Athrun, while the faint sounds of Bartfeld ordering several missiles to be fired in defensive maneuvers sounded over the com. _Archangel_ was directing her own crew to help with the strays that had slipped through the net the _Eternal_ and her two mobile suits had formed.

Gritting his teeth as he peppered another few enemy units with his railguns, his, Lacus, and Athrun's assumption about the enemy was correct – even if it had taken thirteen years to confirm it. Blue Cosmos, or whoever they were, were most definitely targeting them and only them. He was not flattered by it – he was incredibly incensed. They had killed his sister, tried to change the past by launching not one but two asteroids into Earth, and now, they had called them out into battle.

They were going to regret that.

“We found it,” Lacus suddenly stated over their shared battle com frequency as he saw _Eternal_ 's powerful beam cannon lance out and pierce into several enemy suits and into a wide transparent-red honeycomb shielding system.

The explosion that gushed out of the object it had hit collapsed the mirage colloid that it had been hiding behind. However, as the stealth system rippled away, Kira could not help but widen his eyes in shock: the main ship that the neural-linked enemy deployed was half the size of the C.E. 73 asteroid, but it was bristling with all sorts and sizes of weaponry. That fortress alone was more well-armed than Jachin Due or Genesis.

Like an angry swarm of bees though, the enemy mobile suits immediately swarmed into a tighter lattice and fired off their missiles. Kira recalled his pods and fired all of his beam weaponry at the same time, just as Athrun did the same. Their criss-cross intersection of their weapons was enough to destroy the missiles before they could get far from their origin.

He released his pods again, but just as he did, something forceful crashed into him from the back, front, sides, above, and below him. He attempted to throw off the mirage-colloid mobile suits – since his screen didn't even show anything in front of him – and fired his pods all around him. Even as explosions occurred around him, he still could not shake the enemy's grip on him.

Gunning his engines to maximum, he soared up and away, with his pods trailing after him, firing as fast as possible as he twisted this way and that, trying to get his arms free so that he could drop his beam rifles and get his beam sabres out. He could faintly hear the surprised shout of Athrun through the static interference that the enemy mobile suits and their neural-linked abilities were trying to induce on his com systems. _Infinite Justice_ was also trapped in an invisible, vice-like grip within the enemy as well.

With his maneuverability cut but not gone, he flew straight towards the fortress, daring it to shoot at him, but it was Lacus and Bartfeld's sudden cry of alarm over the static-filled com that halted him from his near-suicidal run. “Lacus!” he shouted, as he spun around, just in time to see not only the mobile suits that had latched onto him and Athrun drop their mirage-colloids, but those that had covered nearly the entirety of the _Eternal_.

A half-second later, the _Eternal_ exploded.

~~~

“No!”

Murrue Ramius was not the only one sitting in the command deck of the _Archangel_ in stunned silence as Kira's howl of absolute anguish rang over the com channel. _Eternal_ 's signal had winked out, and yet she still couldn't believe that that had happened. The cries of several other pilots within the battle array were faint across her ears as another beep and notification popped up on the primary screen – the shielding on Heliopolis II was activated. It was based upon the same system that had guarded and made Eurasian Federation's Artemis a near-impenetrable fortress.

She suddenly ordered, “All engines full! Helm, take us in to that enemy fortress!”

“Yes, ma'am!” the helmsman grimly answered.

~~~

“Kira! Kira, listen to me!” Athrun desperately cried over the private com channel that had not yet been compromised, as he forcibly wrenched his mobile suit's arm in an attempt to draw his beam sabres. His leg beam blades were already activated and stabbed into three mobile suits that were holding his legs down, but he could not force his legs to move, no matter how hard he stomped on the pedals or pushed the throttles. Even his Fatum-01 was stuck to his back and could not be freed.

As shocked as he was in seeing the _Eternal_ suddenly explode, and as desperate he wanted to wail against fate's price, he channeled his fury into getting himself freed. Something inside of him had broken long ago when Cagalli had been killed, and the line between his tempered anger and unadulterated fury had grown incredibly thin. That was breached not a moment later as he channeled a dangerous bypass of pure nuclear power through the phase-shift of his armor, just as he saw Kira overload his beam rifles.

The mobile suits clamped onto him exploded, rocking him violently in his harness as alarms blared across his screen, telling him of the compromised factors within his phase-shift armor. Shutting the alarms off, he evened out the armor's settings before quickly drawing out his sabres. Freed for a moment, he spun and lashed out with not only the beam sabres, but also with the beam blades on his mobile suit's feet. Pushing the throttles to maximum, he shot out of the resultant explosion.

He could hear Kira's roar of anger through their private link and keyed it, saying, “Keep to the plan!”

No acknowledgment was given, but he didn't expect any. He could not afford to mourn the sudden and unexpected loss of Lacus and the crew of the _Eternal_. Without her there, it was up to Kira and him to make sure that the plan was carried out. They had to carry her burdens now. He just hoped that his words had gotten through to Kira.

Slashing at several clusters that were trying to box him in again, he activated his mirage-colloid and dashed behind another cluster. Releasing the stealth system, he swung his sabres in a lateral arc, slicing deep into the cluster. Jumping away as the first three mobile suits exploded and took out a chain of them, he was already flying away, weaving and dodging the beam bolts that tried to land a direct hit on his already-compromised phase-shift armor.

Sending his Fatum-01 forward, he triggered a complete overload, detonating not only the unit, but also a cascade chain that ringed around the fortress. He danced around five mobile suits who tried to pinch him from above and below. Scraping his blades from mobile suit head to navel and the other way around, he stomped on the pedals to send _Infinite Justice_ into a spin-kick. Slicing into the cockpits of the other two enemy mobile suits, he brought one of his blades back into a reverse grip and stabbed it into the cockpit of the final enemy mobile suit.

The resultant explosions rocked him forward, just as he heard Kira say over their private channel, “I'll see you on the other side, Athrun.”

He looked up and over towards the far side of the enemy fortress and saw that there was a massive amount of enemy mobile suits surrounding _Strike Freedom_ – more than the ones that were trying to crowd around him. Before he could fly over and help, _Strike Freedom_ was suddenly enveloped in a bright white light as it self-destructed. The resultant explosion played out and sent an enormous chain reaction of explosions that encompassed a sphere as big as the asteroid.

Athrun was already flying up and away as fast as he could to outrun the explosion, and just as it died, he stopped sent his mobile suit back down into the debris field that contained the scrapped remnants of what had been there. _Strike Freedom_ 's detonation had taken out nearly three-quarters of the entire enemy mobile suit force, along with a good outer chunk of the fortress.

“Kira?” he tentatively keyed into the private com link, hearing only static answer his query.

Nothing of what even looked like the powerful mobile suit remained at the epicenter. Had his best friend stuck to the plan, or did Kira truly perish?

He did not even have time to think further as alarms sounded across the board – his sensors were alerting him to the fact that the fortress had all of its remaining weapons locked onto him. The computer system was telling him that even with what remained of his phase-shift armor, it would not be enough to survive. Bowing his head for a moment, he took a deep breath and briefly let go of his right throttle to touch the center of his chest where he knew the stone necklace was laying against his collarbone.

With his hand back on the throttle, he brought forth all weapons, as he saw the remaining enemy mobile suits begin to crowd around him. It seemed that they were willing to sacrifice their own people to make sure he didn't get free. He grimly smiled – how wrong they were.

Two crackling blue-red beams suddenly lanced across his bow and straight into the mass of weapons, blowing not only a hole into the fortress, but also causing several explosions on the surface of the fortress. “Go!” he heard Captain Ramius order as he fired all of his weapons, creating a wide enough hole for him to jam his throttles to maximum and shoot out of the enclosure.

He had to stick to the plan, to see it completed, even though doubt and despair were crawling within him.

Pouring everything he could into his main engines except for his phase-shift armor, he dodged and weaved around both the enemy mobile suits flying towards him, and the beams that were being fired from what was left on this side of the fortress. Flying into the hole carved by _Archangel_ 's Lohengrins, he pushed further into the fortress, calibrating his sensors to guide him to the largest power source. Two sharp rights, a left, and then another sharp right that forced him to flatten his mobile suit as much as possible to scrape by the low clearance, he finally arrived at the core of the fortress.

In the center was a ball of purple-blue sphere that glowed almost white in its core. He didn't know what it was, except that red warnings were triggered in his cockpit – it was a nuclear core, except that he had never seen this type of core before – completely naked and exposed. Radiation alarms were also rapidly rising as he felt a spike in the temperature of his cockpit rise. There was no time – he had to self-destruct now, or risk the naked nuclear core compromising everything within his mobile suit.

Hitting a button that brought out the keypad that was slid into the side of his left throttle, he typed in the six-digit numeric code.

~~~

For a moment, it looked like the fortress was collapsing inwards before it violently ejected outwards, spreading its deadly energy in a ringed wave that overloaded every single mobile suit within the vicinity of it. The _Archangel_ shuddered as the wave passed beneath it, with the ship just barely making it out of the way of the dissipating but still deadly explosive energy it had released. _Infinite Justice_ 's signal had winked out a few moments before, matching that of _Strike Freedom_ and the _Eternal_.

Murrue muted the com systems to the general battle com, and disconnected her sound link to it as well, cutting off Captain Joule mid-screaming-rant as she looked around the bridge. The eyes of her crewmen each carried some sadness within them, but there was also hope and determination – they knew their duty. They knew why _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_ self-destructed, but with the unexpected destruction of the _Eternal_ , none of them knew if Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala had stuck to the plan.

Keying the ship-wide com, she said, “EVA and Rescue Teams, go!”

* * *

It was as if the universe had paused with the destruction of the neural-linked enemy fortress, and most of their mobile suits.

Those enemy mobile suits that somehow survived the battle fled. The allied forces of OMNI, ZAFT, and Orb would have given chase, except that the _Bartolomeo_ had suffered critical engine damage during the battle. Being the closest to the fleeing enemy, the _Archangel_ could not over extend itself in trying to pursue the enemy that were scattering in different directions. _Kusanagi_ was trapped behind Heliopolis II's shields, keeping the colony safe, just in case the defeated enemy came back in another attempt to destroy the colony. Finally, most of the allied mobile suits were also running on critical power and had already powered down from their phase-shift armors.

As the _Archangel_ 's crews brought in a heavily scarred, box-like object – about the size of a mobile suit cockpit – found within the debris, and settled it on the floor of the hangar bay, sensors were panned over it. There was some residual radiation lingering on it, but it was quickly being absorbed by the carbon-black scoring that covered the object. As technicians worked to find the area where they knew they could open the cockpit-like object, a woman with bandages wrapped around her head, hiding most of her hair that had to be cut to stitch up her shallow head wounds, and with her right arm in a sling, floated from the main walkway down to the floor.

A couple of the mechanics stopped her from approaching, gently holding her back as one of the technicians finally found the latch and triggered it. There was a hissing sound as air escaped and equalized with the pressure within the hangar. Slowly the box-like object opened, and the mechanics let the woman go.

She floated over and leaned in, peering into the cockpit that was contained inside of the SAVE unit. Tentatively reaching out with her left hand, she brushed her fingers across the right side of the pilot's face, drawing back his sweat-slicked brown hair. There had been no time for the pilots to don flight suits, and she knew that both of them had been lucky to have survived.

“Kira,” she said, as she felt him stir under her touch. A few moment later, those beautiful violet eyes of his opened and blinked several times. His right hand reached up and tentatively touched her own as his eyes widened. Tears sprang into his eyes as she allowed him to press her hand against his cheek.

“Lacus...” Kira whispered in relief and happiness.

 

~*~*~*~

 


	6. Chapter 5: A Moment In Transition

**Chapter 5: A Moment In Transition**

_C.E. 94, Orb, Earth..._

 

“It was his idea, but considering what his thesis might potentially uncover, I'd rather you know about it now than later,” Kira said as he showed Athrun the abstract that Nicolai had wrote as a proposal for his research thesis.

As Athrun took the data pad from him, Kira saw his eyes flicker back and forth, reading the half-page summary as a small frown grew upon his face. “The OMNI mobile suit _Strike_ in ZAFT hands, a theory about the Bloody Valentine War through the five Morgenroete mobile suits...” he heard Athrun mutter a moment later before looking up and returning the data pad to him.

“Most of the initial military data about _Strike_ from the war is still classified,” he said, answering Athrun's unspoken question. “When the _Archangel_ deserted OMNI, the data from its new pilot was considered unclassified. I don't think Nicolai will uncover our roles in the war, but just to make sure that he does not, I'm unofficially advising him in his thesis.”

Athrun nodded before saying, “It will be interesting to see what he comes up with--”

“Dad!” the excited shout of Cari interrupted them. Kira saw her almost bounce her way into her home, nearly tripping over the shoes she had discarded at the entrance, as she dropped her schoolbag near the stairs. “Hi Uncle Kira! Guess what?” she asked, stopping before them with a rather wide and eager grin on her face.

“What?” Athrun asked, as Kira saw a rather exasperated look appear on his face.

He couldn't help but grin and chuckle to himself. He had heard his friend's complaints over the satcom about just how 'wild' and easily excited Cari had become in the last few months. However, he didn't dare remind Athrun that long ago, when they had been in preparatory school together, Athrun had been a rather excitable young teenager as well, matching his curiosity and wit. It didn't help that even though Cari had grown out her dark blue hair and wore it in a ponytail, she had facial features that were similar to Athrun than to Cagalli.

 _Mini-Athrun_ , he secretly concluded in amusement, wondering when Cari was going to begin tinkering with small robots. Perhaps if or when she did, Kira would give her Torii to have her practice her tinkering. Lacus certainly was not going to give her Pink-chan, not after she had received it back long ago and found it reprogrammed to spit out even more vulgar words.

“In honor of Remembrance Day this year, the school allowed some veterans from OMNI, the Eurasian Federation, Orb, and ZAFT to speak at Assembly! We got to hear about the war from different perspectives! It was so cool, especially the ZAFT perspective!”

Kira glanced over to see a clear frown appear on Athrun's expression as Cari continued to wax poetic about what parts of the war were discussed at Assembly. His concern for both his friend and Cari was further deepened when Cari suddenly declared, “I'm going to join ZAFT after I graduate.”

“No. You're not,” Athrun stated after a moment of silence as Kira saw him fold his arms over his chest, looking at her with disapproval written all over his face.

“What? But Dad--” Cari protested.

“I said no,” Athrun repeated. “I forbid you.”

“If this is about your being with the crew of the _Eternal_ during the war--” she began.

“We are not discussing this, Caridad Lenore Attha. No, means no.” Kira heard his friend say, and immediately reached out to place a hand on Athrun's arm. He had heard a fairly dangerous tone creep up into Athrun's declaration and invocation of Cari's full name.

Fortunately, Athrun did not need to say another word as Cari's expression fell and then anger took over as she icily stated, “Fine. I'm sixteen anyways and can enlist without parental permission. You can't stop me, Dad.” Instead of running back out, she immediately ran up the stairs. The echo of a door slamming a moment later told Kira that Cari had holed herself up in her room.

“Athrun,” he said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, removing his hand from his friend's arm.

“I can't let her join ZAFT,” Athrun said, slowly unfolding his arms and rested his hands on his lap. “It's too much of a risk.”

“I know,” he said, nodding in understanding. “But... you know that even if we speak to her, neither you, Lacus, or I can stop her. She's as ambitious and resourceful as both you and Cagalli, and she'll find a way off of Earth.”

“I have to try, Kira,” Athrun answered, sighing in frustration. “I can't protect her up there, and I don't want to lose her.”

* * *

_C.E. 96, In Space Near Heliopolis II..._

 

Lenore clutched at her uniform's jacket as she leaned into the open door of her locker. “I'm sorry,” she whispered, shaking slightly as she tried to choke back a sob. “I'm so sorry, Dad,” she continued to say. “Please... I should've listened to you. I shouldn't have—I'm sorry... my own damn arrogance...”

Warm arms and a familiar presence wrapped around her, holding her as she broke down and cried. She couldn't believe that not only she had watched her father die, but also Kira and Lacus. She had watched, powerless and nearly depleted of power as the enemy mobile suits had swarmed the _Eternal_ and her two mobile suits. A few strays bearing missiles had come close, but with what they had left, she and the others had beat them back.

IFF signal lost never lied – she knew that, and even if by a miracle they did, the vacuum of space was unforgiving. With so many nuclear missiles unleashed in space, it made the entire place quite deadly to an exposed mobile suit pilot in a flight suit. Those arms around her continued to hold her close as she collapsed to the floor, clutching the jacket close to her as she cried into it.

“Why,” she cried, the fabric muffling her words, but she didn't care. “Haumea, why?”

Was this the goddess' punishment for disobeying her father and running off to join ZAFT? Was this punishment for the fact that she did not even bother to tell her father or brother she was still alive after that assassination attempt during training? She didn't know and wished that it were not so. Even if she didn't know about her father's association with ZAFT, she still shouldn't have been so arrogant thinking that she would be able to survive in ZAFT without people finding out about her heritage. Was it because of her that her father felt that he needed to build _Infinite Justice_ – just to rectify her own damn mistakes? Had her decision led her father down this path?

She would never receive her answers now as she sat there, crumpled on the floor, held up only by those arms that gave her strength in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on her, nearly two years ago. She didn't know how long she had stayed like that, but eventually, she felt so tired that she could not cry anymore. Blinking as the last of her tears fell, she noticed that her uniform jacket that she had been clutching had been replaced by a towel.

Her jacket was hanging back up in her locker. As she wiped her face and shifted to get up, the arms that had been holding her loosened as the person scooted back and stood up. Placing the towel on the bench, she reached forward and grabbed her jacket. Slipping it on, she zipped the inner zipper up before buttoning the internal buttons to smooth the seam out.

“The _Archangel_ 's requested all remaining pilots and Captain Joule to report to the ship,” her teammate and fellow pilot stated.

“I'm ready,” she said, sniffling slightly as she brushed herself down one last time before closing her locker. “Let's go.”

* * *

_On the Archangel..._

 

“When did you start rebuilding it?”

Kira looked down from his gawping stare at the inactive mobile suit that occupied the berthing that was closest to the main walkway, to see that Athrun had directed the question to Captain Ramius. The medic wrapping a bandage around Athrun's torso shifted slightly to get a better angle and pressure on the gauze pad pressed to his side., though was careful not to wrap bandages around the coral stone necklace hanging around Athrun's neck. The wound that his friend had sustained back when he had jumped through time to bring the four pilots home had reopened sometime during combat. There were a few other bandages wrapped around his head and on both sides of his arms, but other than that, he was relatively unhurt.

Kira shifted his hold on Athrun's shirt and red ZAFT uniform into his right hand as his left accepted the offer of a water bottle from Lacus, who had floated back to them. She handed one to Athrun as well before settling back as another medic came by to check on her wounds. As for his own wounds, they were quite minor when compared to what Lacus and Athrun had sustained. Triage was being set up in a corner of the hangar bay for those who were not as wounded as some of the more serious ones sustained by a few crew members of the _Eternal_ – and that was where he, his wife, along with Athrun remained.

He still couldn't believe that Captain Ramius had made sure to install a similar SAVE system for every member of the _Eternal_ 's crew. The crew had almost been unable to trigger the system before the neural-linked disruption into the ship's systems from their clamp onto the ship, overloaded all systems. That was what the enemy had tried to do to both him and Athrun, but their mobile suits had too powerful of shielding from their phase-shift armors and nuclear shielding to slow down the wireless hacking.

“About a year ago. It was actually our chief mobile armor engineer, Simmons who proposed it. He's the son of Erica and joined the crew three years ago to help maintain our fleet of mobile armors. He showed me a thesis that your son wrote recently, Athrun. About how ZAFT would have won the war, and in a faster fashion, had _Strike_ been successfully stole by them. I was impressed by just how much details the thesis delved into, considering most of the details were and still are still classified by OMNI. You son is quite the researcher into unclassified materials.”

Kira grinned slightly as he saw Athrun flush pink in embarrassment. Before his friend could say a word though, Ramius continued, saying, “Simmons wanted to rebuild _Strike_ , using some of the thesis' derived theories on how ZAFT could have upgraded all of the mobile suits they stole. But out of consideration for its final pilot, he didn't want to do it without my blessing. I gave it to him on the condition that it would not be owned by Orb but remain strictly with the _Archangel_. To make sure there were no legal complications, the crew and I funded his project. _Buster_ 's pilot joined the project as well, though he's more of a consultant.”

She sighed and looked up at the inert mobile suit. “It's not one hundred percent complete and certainly doesn't have its original OS installed into it. We couldn't get that from Morgenroete's archives without complications, so its sitting with a dummy OS we patched together using some of the mobile armor systems. Some of the mechanics of it still have to be worked out, but overall, I think Mu would have been okay with flying such a system.”

“I think so as well, Captain Ramius,” Kira agreed as he saw that the medic was done patching Athrun up and stepped forward to hand him his clothing. As Athrun gingerly put his shirt on, Kira asked his former commander, “Do you mind if I take a look at the OS?”

“I figured you would ask that,” Ramius answered, smiling before nodding. “Please have a look if you want. Just be sure to inform Chief Simmons if you are going to change anything, after all, this is his project.” She opened her mouth to say some more, but then focused her attention on what was happening on the far side of the hangar bay.

Kira, Lacus, and Athrun also looked over to see the first of _Archangel_ 's mobile suits and armors returning to their home. Because of just how debris filled the entire swath of space was, those who survived the battle could not immediately return to their berthing ports. There were big enough debris between the defensive line, the enemy, and where the _Archangel_ was that everyone had to be cautious that no one was going to ambush them. The _Kusanagi_ still remained within Heliopolis II, powering its shielding system. It would not power it down until a perimeter could be established by the remaining defensive ships, or when reinforcements from Orb, OMNI, and ZAFT would get here – which was a few days.

“Are you sure you three want to do this?” Ramius quietly asked the three of them as they stood up from where they had been sitting, placing their water bottles to the side. “The purpose of those detonations was to make sure both of you were 'dead'.”

“ _Eternal_ 's unexpected destruction has changed everything,” Athrun said, slipping his uniform's jacket on and zippered it up. “They're all going to think Lacus is dead when she's not supposed to be, and its going to make it even more difficult to flush the rest of them out. We need to replan the strategy, get our bearings, see what the leaders say now, and get reactions.”

“Everyone who fought were not supposed to have witnessed all of that, Captain Ramius,” Lacus spoke up. “This is the least we can do to alleviate some of their despair.”

As the first of the mobile armor pilots popped open the unit's hatch and climbed out, there was a relieved shout coming from the walkway. Kira briefly looked up to see a familiar young man – Orb guardsman Daneel Barton – float down to the floor of the bay to greet his father. He remembered that the young guardsman had said that one of his fathers was still secretary to the Chief Representative of Orb, while the other had retired from guardsman duties and was now a crew member of the _Archangel_. The unassuming and plain-looking pilot of the first mobile armor to land was most likely Hikaru Barton.

He saw Athrun float forward after father and son had exchanged greetings and saw the elder Barton's eyes widen in surprise in seeing Athrun – along with Lacus and he, alive. Athrun briefly shook the man's hand while Kira and Lacus floated more towards the center of the bay as the other mobile armor pilots landed and made room for the first of the mobile suits. With _Cygnus_ destroyed, _Archangel_ was the only ship that could take on her two mobile suits. _Bartolomeo_ 's engine damage had been worse than initially assessed and had damaged a part of its hangar bay. While the ZAFT warship was still able to fly, its thrust and maneuvering capability had been halved.

However, that didn't mean that the _Archangel_ had not sustained damage – it was a more robust ship than anyone gave it credit for. Thankfully, most of the damage was external that could be fixed once they got into a docking port. Her bay was large enough for at least five mobile suits and a squadron of mobile armors. One of the mobile suit bays was already occupied by the rebuilt _Strike_. _Buster_ had a berth there, and _Vanguard_ along with _Silverbird_ and _Albion_ would be able to find a home here.

 _Buster_ was the first of the mobile suits to enter, followed by _Vanguard_. However, a commotion immediately started as Kira heard Dearka's rather coarse exclamation echo in the bay. That was followed by the more mild epithet of “Haumea!” from both Yuki and Nicolai. Kira saw them immediately launch themselves down towards the floor, not even bothering to remove their helmets. The pilot of _Buster_ took a more slower approach, allowing the families to reunite.

“Dad...Mom...” Yuki said with his eyes brimming with tears. His words were nearly drowned out by his helmet still on his head, and by the sounds of the final two mobile suits stomping into their berthing area.

Lacus immediately embraced their son. Not wanting to disturb their moment or possibly injure his wife any further, since he didn't know the extent of her injuries other than what he saw in terms of bandages, he settled for placing a hand on their son's shoulder. Not a few moments later, he too was engulfed in a tight hug from Yuki.

“Please don't ever do that again, Dad,” he heard him say in a muffled tone.

“I won't,” he answered. “I promise.”

Yuki let him go a moment later, and though Kira had definitely felt some pain lance up and down his body from the bear hug, he didn't let it show on his face. Further ahead, he saw Nicolai wiping some tears from his eyes while nodding to whatever Athrun was saying. It was the first time that he had seen Athrun's son look so scared and relieved at the same time and coupled with the stricken look upon Yuki's face, he realized just how innocent their children were. The children had grown up in a world without war, of an uneasy peace that was sometimes solved with skirmishes and a quick application of force. Not counting their jaunt through C.E. 73, today truly had been most of their first real battle.

In the beginning, Kira had no one to guide him through the horrors of what war could wreak on the psyche, even though Mu had at times, tried to teach him a few things. The mobile armor pilot certainly had not been the consoling type. Now, looking at his son, along with some of the younger crew members, Kira considered himself extremely lucky that Lacus had been there to help him survive the war. He would have to watch over for the younger generation, to make sure that they did not come out as scarred and war-weary as those who fought on either side over twenty-five years ago.

When the last of the mobile suits settled and all pilots were out and on the floor of the hangar, that was when a ZAFT shuttle entered the bay and settled on the floor. Kira saw the ZAFT pilots and their commander exit the shuttle, though he saw Lenore hesitate for a moment before pushing off and rocketed towards her father. He was already there to stop Athrun from being sent back towards the hangar wall a little too fast from the force of Lenore's impact and hug.

No words needed to be exchanged between father and daughter as he saw Athrun silently hold Lenore as she buried her head into his chest. Kira smiled – even if Athrun always denied it, he could tell that his friend doted on Lenore constantly. She definitely was 'Daddy's little girl', no matter what happened.

It became just a little more amusing as Lenore suddenly seemed to realize that not only was she in public, but also that she was hugging a superior officer in public. She suddenly sprang back, flushing bright red as she hastily backed away to a respectable distance and said, “Sorry, sir!”

Kira heard his wife softly giggle as he caught a genuine smile briefly appear on Athrun's face before seeing him nod in acknowledgment. The others around them had given them a little space for privacy purposes, but seeing that the brief reunion was over, he saw Captain Joule come forward. Dearka was standing on the peripheral with a mild look on his face. Captain Ramius had also entered the 'circle' that had formed, as Joule stated, “The dust is still settling, but they're going to declare the three of you and the _Eternal_ 's crew dead soon. What's the plan?”

“We remain among the deceased for now,” Lacus spoke up before either he or Athrun could. “Though the _Eternal_ 's destruction was unexpected, we can use it to our advantage. The enemy has retreated for now, but they will regroup, launch contingency plans, and continue to sow discord among all of us. We cannot let them do this. If any of you wish not to be a part of this deception, you may leave now without consequences.”

No one moved to leave. It was Captain Ramius who broke the silence, saying, “Then Captain Joule, Commander Zala, Kira, and Lacus, if you would please follow me, we'll take the details of this discussion elsewhere. Pilots, we will have your orders delivered in a few. In the mean time, you may either remain here or return to the _Bartolomeo_. If you choose to remain here, the command deck is off limits.”

Kira followed the others, though he did give a nod of assurance to his son before heading up to the main walkway that would take them into the ship proper. However, as they got to it, the door slid open and DaCosta, covered in even more bandages than Lacus was, emerged. “DaCosta, you shouldn't be out of bed yet!” he heard Lacus gently admonish, as she reached Bartfeld's trusted second, and tried to urge him to go back into the ship.

“I'm sorry, Ms. Clyne, but the Captain woke up and insisted that the three of you be informed as soon as possible,” DaCosta said.

“L4?” Kira asked, worried.

The man nodded as he pulled out a disk and handed it to him. “We left a sensor package behind before we flew to Heliopolis II. A signal was caught just before the enemy overwhelmed us. The Captain caught it into the repository before activating the SAVE units, but we haven't had time to analyze it yet.”

“Thank you, DaCosta,” he said, before Lacus ushered the injured man back into the ship. Captains Ramius and Joule followed her in, but Athrun remained on the walkway, placing a concerned hand on his shoulder. Kira looked up from the disk, meeting his friend's eyes as he shook his head slightly. “It's been quiet there since the end of the war,” he said.

“It's also the one place where we never had enough resources to cover all the abandoned colonies there without them risking finding us, or us changing our past, Kira,” Athrun stated. “That's changed since the four of them returned.”

“I know,” he said, looking slightly over and past Athrun to focus his eyes on the inert _Strike_ Gundam. “That's what I'm afraid of. We might have let them rebuild because we were so afraid to wreck the time line.”

* * *

“Have you been eating your vegetables while I've been gone?”

Nicolai turned around just in time to see the pilot of _Buster_ smash a hand on top of the red-headed ZAFT pilot, whom he remembered being named, Dalton Elsmann. “Oh jeez Dad, what the hell?!” the young pilot exclaimed in an indignant tone, “I'm nineteen for fuck's sake! I'm not a child anymore!”

The elder Elsmann merely shrugged but did remove his hand from his son's head before turning to Yuki and sticking his hand out, saying, “Dearka Elsmann. Pleasure to meet the pilots of _Vanguard_.”

“Yuki Yamato. I pilot _Vanguard_ ,” Yuki answered, shaking the pilot's hand before letting go and gesturing to him, saying, “That's Nicolai Attha. He's the battle data guy.”

Elsmann stuck a hand out for him to shake, but Nicolai ignored it – even if the man was a former ZAFT pilot, he still did not like the organization, no matter what. The only two people that he would not ignore who were ZAFT were his father and sister – he knew them, and knew that only they would understand why he had such an intense dislike for the all-volunteer Coordinator army. Instead, he crossed his hands over his chest, hoping that the pilot of _Buster_ would get the hint and leave him alone.

“Well,” the pilot said after a moment, pulling his hand back. “So, either of you had any military experience or training?”

“Uh...no,” Yuki answered, looking quite sheepish. “We just kind of got dumped into this role after the Junius 7 Memorial attack.”

“Oh, you guys must be the pilots who got sent back in time or something weird like that!” Elsmann stated. “Everyone on the _Archangel_ has been talking about that oddity since Lieutenant Barton there--” the man gestured to the tall ZAFT pilot who was talking with a mobile armor pilot, a young man garbed in the Orb guardsman uniform, and Lenore “--said that tachyon particles exist.”

“I guess...” Yuki answered, scratching the back of his head. In an attempt to change the subject, he then asked, “So, what were you doing on the _Archangel_? I thought _Buster_ Gundam was destroyed.”

“I'm helping Chief Engineer Simmons with his project,” Elsmann answered, gesturing to the mobile suit berthed nearest to the main walkway.

“Wait,” Nicolai breathed in a surprised breath as he stared at the mobile suit that he had thought was something not quite finished yet and thus had not sortied. “GAT X-105 _Strike_...”

It seemed that his declaration of the mobile suit's name had attracted the attention of the other ZAFT pilots, along with the mobile armor pilot as they floated over to where he, Yuki, and _Buster_ 's pilot were. Nicolai saw that the two OMNI pilots were floating nearer to the mobile suit, talking with an engineer that looked quite familiar to him. So this was where Erica Simmons' son left Morgenroete for...

“Well, it doesn't have the GAT designation on it anymore, since this is a rebuild and doesn't belong to OMNI,” the mobile armor pilot stated. “Hikaru Barton,” the pilot stated to him. “I worked with your father as an Orb guardsman before retirement took me to the _Archangel_.”

Nicolai nodded, though he didn't ask what had caused an Orb guardsman to retire so early, and then have said former guardsman take up being a mobile armor pilot of all things. However, the last name of Barton sounded familiar – the tall and eerily pale-eyed ZAFT pilot's surname was Barton. But the ZAFT soldier and this man certainly didn't resemble each other, even though Hikaru Barton seemed old enough to be the ZAFT pilot's father. “So who does it belong to? Orb?” he asked, pushing the brief thought about possible familial relations aside – it was none of his business anyways.

Instead of directly answering his question, the mobile armor pilot raised his voice up, saying, “Hey, Chief Simmons, the kids want to ask you a few questions!”

Nicolai's face fell – he was twenty already, and yet he was still being lumped into 'kids' with the others. Chief Simmons was only a few years older than he was, but still... He dropped the thought as he saw Simmons turn from where he had been explaining something to the two OMNI pilots and nod. Gesturing for the pilots to follow, they did so, and as soon as they reached the floor, he saw Inga float over to Yuki, wrapping an arm around his waist. Yuki had responded with the same action.

“Hey, if it isn't Nicolai and Yuki!” Simmons greeted, enthusiastically shaking their hands. “Glad to see you guys got _Vanguard_ working from concept to operational! How's my mother and the others on the station? I haven't heard from her in a while, being stuck out here on long patrols and the like.”

“They're all doing well,” Nicolai said. “I'll tell you some more later. We do have some questions with what you're building here though. Who does _Strike_ belong to?”

“The _Archangel_ ,” Simmons proudly said, grinning. “All of her crew members, including her pilots, command officers, and even me, we all brought a stake into it. We supplied our own materials, and the personnel here have been learning how to build a mobile suit from scratch. With the ship getting old and most likely retiring in a couple of years, we figured that if it gets turned into a museum, it should retire with the armaments it was outfitted with during the war.”

“So its a museum-quality replica?” Yuki asked, frowning slightly.

“Oh no,” Simmons answered, shaking his head slightly. “No... had we finished installing the Igestellungs on the side of its head, and gotten the original OS it ran with, it would have been able to sortie today. But... since all of us who funded the project are not Morgenroete or associated with any other mobile suit/defense company, we did not want anyone associated with any of those companies or military to touch it. So... no original OS. Like I said, _Strike_ is very much a part of the _Archangel_ – independent of influences.”

“You're in luck, Chief,” Barton said. “Kira Yamato asked to take a look at the OS and the Captain gave her blessing, though she told him to check with you before doing anything.”

Though Simmons was older than he was, Nicolai did not miss the 'kid in a candy store' look that appeared on the engineer's face. However, before the man could express his utter joy, Nicolai asked, “So because Yuki and I are Morgenroete, we can't take a look at it?”

Simmons immediately sobered up, shaking his head as he said, “Sadly, no. That goes for the rest of you military types. You guys can all look on the outside, but because of what this ship and mobile suit represent, you can't look inside.” Nicolai saw him turn and focused specifically on him, saying, “I'm really sorry, Nicolai. I proposed this project based on the thesis you wrote about _Strike_ being in ZAFT hands, but--”

“No,” he answered, shaking his head slightly. “I understand perfectly. It is a pure project, built with completely good intentions. I just wish it had been true during the war...and even now for every other mobile suit out there.”

* * *

“It is my regret to report to the press that the crew of the _Cygnus_ , along with the _Eternal_ have perished in the recent attack on Heliopolis II,” Chief Representative Seiran stated. “Six Strike Dagger pilots from the _Cygnus_ , two Astray pilots from the _Kusanagi_ , one mobile armor pilot from the _Archangel_ , and the pilots of the _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_ have also perished. While we mourn their loss, we will honor their memories and sacrifice they made to keep not only those citizens on Heliopolis II safe, but also the many military leaders that we have here.”

“As for the trials of Kira Yamato, Commander Athrun Zala, and Lacus Clyne, we will not release a statement with regards to the verdicts. It is clear from their actions taken in defense of the colony that all three, along with the crew of the _Eternal_ , will be posthumously pardoned. The _Kusanagi_ will remain at Heliopolis II until reinforcements from Orb, along with OMNI and ZAFT arrive. Thank you.”

Captain Ramius immediately cut the feed off before the volume of the press trying to get an answer out of the departing Chief Representative of Orb from the podium, could get loud. Athrun looked up from the screen embedded within the table in this conference room on the ship, as Ramius said, “Well, you're all officially dead **and** pardoned.”

“Chairwoman Canaver will most likely be issuing a statement as well,” Lacus quietly spoke up. “As for Prime Minister Stephanopolos, I believe that he may refrain from commenting about the deaths, other than acknowledge the destruction of the _Cygnus_ and her crew. By now, everyone would know that the Junius 7 Memorial attack was no fluke. We will need to--”

A two-toned beep issued from somewhere near Yzak, cutting off whatever else Lacus was going to say. Yzak pulled the com device out with a frown before excusing himself from the room. Even as abrasive as he had been in the past, Athrun knew that his former teammate would have never let any external communication interrupt briefings such as this one. This one had to be incredibly important for his former teammate to leave the room for, and he had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with orders from Canaver. While he himself never kept in touch with the Chairwoman of the PLANTs, except for that one time where he had dropped Cagalli's murderer off in her office, it seemed that Yzak's clandestine role as a FAITH member was much more active.

While they were waiting, Kira slotted in the disk that DaCosta had handed him, calling up whatever had been captured from the sensor package. All Athrun saw on the projected screen was some frequency wave lines, but as his friend opened up a virtual keyboard and began typing, he could see a frown grow on his face, along with a furrow forming between his eyebrows. Whatever the sensor package had captured, it was making Kira worried – more worried than he remembered seeing him in a long while. Before he could ask what was the matter though, Yzak returned, pocketing the com device into his white ZAFT uniform jacket.

“Chairwoman Canaver issued a directive for me to bring all FAITH agents back to the PLANTs. Nyabrius 13 went silent one hour after that fortress was destroyed,” Yzak stated without preamble. “She's already dispatched the fastest warship to here and has ordered my crew and pilots to transfer to that ship. They'll be here in about eighteen hours. The ZAFT reinforcements will be here in about twenty-seven.”

“How many FAITH agents does she have?” Athrun asked.

“FAITH?” Ramius asked at the same time.

“ZAFT Special Forces,” Yzak answered before focusing on him, saying, “The four mobile suit pilots under my command, plus--” he took out his pin from another pocket and threw it on the table “--me, you, and you know the other one. Those are the space-based FAITH members. She has ten clandestine ones based on the PLANTs. The four pilots are the visible ones – the ones that the media and populaces know about.”

“That's a lot,” he said, frowning. “No Chairperson has ever had that many under their command before.”

“Someone long ago told her to consolidate her power,” his former teammate answered, shrugging slightly. “That's her answer.”

Athrun kept his expression as neutral as possible, knowing that it was his words to her so long ago when he had dumped Dr. Hadrian into Canaver's office that day, that most likely caused this. The power of the FAITH members, especially when they did not disagree with the Chairperson who controlled them was almost akin to dictatorship. Had he done wrong in telling Canaver the truth? That because of what he had found, if she did not make sure she remained in power, war against Earth or worse yet, civil war among the PLANTs would engulf them?

“Nyabrius 13 is where they're all stored,” Lacus quietly spoke up, interrupting his troubling thoughts.

“And as far as I know, that is where the Chairwoman placed her PLANT-based agents before all of this blew up,” Yzak stated. “The transmission was not secure enough for me to get details, but if it has gone silent--”

“These technopaths, or whatever they are, are most likely involved,” Athrun said, nodding. “Somehow they're all linked, even if it was neurally just to the mobile suits or whatever that fortress was.”

“But the only way for them to receive data that fast--” Ramius began, as she took control of the inlaid screen on the table, as Kira shrunk whatever he was working on to just his area and briefly stopped typing to see what she was bringing up. A spherical image of the Earth was brought up as Ramius pushed the time stamp of its daily orbit and rotation back to the time in which they had all been fighting. She then called up several markers that indicated satellites orbiting the planet, along with space-to-ground stations within the receiving area of the satellites. It did not escape Athrun's notice that all the satellites that she had called up were marked as Atlantic or Eurasian Federation satellites.

“I hate it when my hunch is right,” he heard her mutter as she narrowed it down. Unfortunately, the cluster of satellites belonged to the Eurasian Federation, and as ancient as the satellites were, they had a direct transmission path to L3. “Those satellites were the main method in which Artemis spoke to their Federation before the fortress was destroyed.”

“Captain Ramius, if I may?” Kira suddenly asked. Ramius nodded and gave control over to him. Athrun watched him type a few things before seemingly merging whatever data he had received from the _Eternal_ 's crew into the satellite and Earth representation, played a little over an hour prior to the silencing of Nyabrius 13. “Do you happen to know the frequency in which these satellites transmit their data down to the ground, Captain?”

Ramius brought up another virtual keyboard and typed in some files, saying, “These were from before the war, when OMNI was spying on the Eurasians, so I don't know if they're the most up-to-date.”

Kira silently nodded as he brought the files to the forefront and aligned it and the _Eternal_ 's cache together. Several of the waves matched, though a couple of others from the _Eternal_ 's data looked to be just several micro hertz off – as if there was some interference. “L4 was used as a relay then,” he said, looking up and catching every pair eyes in the room. “Or more, considering that I've seen this frequency once before. We might not just be dealing with possible Coordinator extremists who are modifying their bodies with implanted chips.”

“Implanted chips?” Yzak asked.

“It's how they're all able to control their mobile suits with more precision than our pilots,” Athrun explained. “The reaction time between man and machine is eliminated with those chips. It was also how they managed to destroy the _Eternal_ – they latched onto it and wirelessly overloaded all systems. We first discovered it when we captured a pilot back in C.E. 73. _Vanguard_ took the chip with it when it was transported back to this time, thereby allowing us to gain data and insight into their battle tactics.”

“So that's why none of you did anything before that,” his former teammate stated. “You knew that something like this was coming.”

“The three of us, along with Captain Ramius here knew,” Lacus said, nodding. “Though we had anticipated that they would attack as soon as Athrun brought the asteroid back and revealed himself. They did not, and thus we were forced to deploy our contingency plan. As I said before, the destruction of the _Eternal_ was unplanned, but the people have now seen two attacks by these... technopaths.”

“Then what do they want with Nyabrius 13?” he heard Yzak mutter, though it seemed to be mainly to himself. “Why now, if they've infiltrated the PLANTs for a while? They could have hit the colony well before this.”

“What's so important about that colony?” Ramius asked.

He caught Yzak's uncertain glance over at him. He too, wasn't sure that revealing the importance of the colony was wise either. However, it seemed that Lacus had decided for both of their hesitation by saying, “It is where every genetic profile of all Coordinators born in the PLANTs are stored. It is essentially, the very place where a Coordinator is born when parents want to create one. If it is destroyed or even contaminated, Coordinators as a whole, and even research into genetic science will cease to exist.”

Silence enveloped the room for a few long minutes before Athrun said, “We need to get into that colony, and I think I may have a way in.” He looked up at them, “It will involve revealing that I'm alive though.”

“Can this way in be trusted?” Ramius surprisingly asked.

“She's former black ops within ZAFT, operating out of the Eurasian Federation during the war,” he stated. “She provided invaluable intelligence and assistance during a more...troubling time for me.”

“Korsakoff,” Yzak suddenly said. Athrun blinked in surprise, wondering just how Yzak knew that name and precisely who he was talking about by that short description. “I researched the background of every activate FAITH member that Canaver appointed to the position... well, almost every member. You and you know who, I didn't know Canaver appointed. I'm surprised to see that she owes you a favor, considering that its usually the other way around.”

His former teammate turned to the rest of them, saying, “She can be trusted, but only with the fact that Zala here is alive. We'll secure a line to her from the new warship once it arrives.” Athrun nodded in agreement.

“We will need to investigate the Eurasian Federation as well,” Lacus said, nodding. “Given that Prime Minister Stephanopolos returned to Earth a couple of days ago, it may be prudent to take the _Archangel_ back down and allow the OMNI pilots that we've taken in to brief their people, rather than wait for reinforcements to arrive. That will give us some insight as to the people's thoughts into the attacks, and gauge Earth's reaction. The Prime Minister himself seems conservative by Orb standards, but may generally listen to moderates with regards to this attack.”

“It will be dangerous there, Lacus,” Ramius stated. “The Eurasians are known to be hostile to outsiders, including Orb, though there may be a way to blunt that slightly. I will need to personally talk to one of the OMNI pilots... if she'll listen to me.”

“Inga Aurelia?” Kira asked, frowning slightly. “Her father is a sitting Councilor within the Eurasian Parliament, but he is considered a liberal within their government.”

“No,” Ramius answered, shaking her head slightly. “Keiko Sakamoto. During the war, her aunt was given the captaincy of the _Dominion_.”

Athrun stared in surprise at Ramius, though he knew that his shock paled in comparison to Kira's. He knew that Natarle Badgiruel had been the second-in-command of the _Archangel_ before she was transferred somewhere else after the legged ship's arrival at JOSH-A. The fact that the _Archangel_ had destroyed _Dominion_ and killed not only its captain but also Blue Cosmos leader, Murata Azrael was the unfortunate result of war. He sympathized a little with the pilot of _Albion_ – Sakamoto was most likely extremely uncomfortable being on the ship that had killed a well-known member of her family. Still, there was something that Ramius was not telling them, but the stance that she was projecting booked no further prying questions.

“Then its settled,” Yzak said. “Zala and my crew will go to the PLANTs--”

“I'll be going to L4,” Kira suddenly said, catching everyone by surprise.

“Kira...” Athrun began, worried. While L4 was a concern to them and he wanted to go with Kira, but the fact that ten FAITH agents had been silenced on Nyabrius 13 was the more immediate concern that he knew he needed to attend to. Nyabrius 13 and the Eurasian Federation were somewhat unknown in terms of situation, but they had absolutely no intelligence about L4's condition other than a sensor package transmission.

“I won't be going alone, Athrun,” Kira said in reassurance. “I'll have another person with me.”

“Just the two of you?” Lacus spoke up, looking as concerned as Athrun felt.

“It's better this way,” his best friend said, shaking his head slightly. “Please, I'm asking you to trust me on this. If there are signs of these 'technopaths' on L4, then its easier for the two of us to do what we need to do.”

There was something within Kira's eyes that Athrun found slightly disheartening yet also a little frightening and familiar. Did Kira suspect that the Nyabrius 13 issue had something to with 'Ultimate Coordinator' project, or even the briefly revived and modified 'Mendel Project' from long ago? If so, then these 'technopaths' were a lot more sinister and insidious than they had first assumed.

* * *

_Later..._

 

Kira had never typed this much encryption into a com line out, just to make sure that absolutely no one, not even Athrun or Lacus, would be able to pick up the transmission. While the resolution was grainy and fuzzy, he was thankful that he had dialed the correct frequency. However, considering where he transmitted the open line to, he wasn't sure that this particular person was even in the vicinity at the moment. Just as he was beginning to doubt himself on the fact that the person was even there, the image finally resolved from a black and white snow image on the screen, to a still snow-filled image with a person there.

“What?” the gruff, rude, one-word question told him everything about the person's current state of mind.

Not that the person on the other end had been quite hostile to him long ago – the first and only time they had met thus far. Kira barely knew anything about the man other than the brief words they had exchanged so long ago during their search through Mendel Colony. Nevertheless, he distinctly remembered the actions that the man before him had taken – desperation, frustration, anger at not only him but also towards the world...

“The Project may have been restarted, Canard,” he simply said, not even bothering to preface his words with any sort of inane apology on the contact.

“I'll be at your position in four hours. Bring a mobile suit with you,” Canard Pars, the only other survivor of the Ultimate Coordinator Project stated, before disconnecting the transmission.

 

~*~*~*~

 


	7. Chapter 6: What Is Old, Is New

**Chapter 6: What Is Old, Is New**

_C.E. 75, Orb, Earth..._

 

Athrun downed the last of the rather weak-tasting hospital coffee before crumpling up the cup and dumped it into the trash. Making his way back to the room where Cagalli was staying for the time being until her doctor gave her the all-clear, he saw that the two guards that had been stationed outside of her room were still quite alert and standing like statues. The only signs they gave that indicated they were quite alive were the slight up-down movement of their chest and their eyes. Their eyes moved whichever way, watching down the halls as nurses, patients, and doctors walk about.

“Sir,” the taller of the two guards, Hikaru Barton, stated in both greeting and acknowledgment. “Representative Seiran left five minutes ago.”

“Thank you,” he answered, glad that the guardsman told him when Cagalli's official husband was gone from the room. He had been unceremoniously kicked out of the room over an hour ago by Seiran, who naturally, wanted some alone time with Cagalli to 'comfort' her with regards to her loss.

Athrun had taken that hour to see if there was anything edible in the hospital cafeteria and to at least clean himself up in one of the bathrooms. Even though the miscarriage and loss of their child had nothing to do with Seiran, at least the man had some sense of decency and decorum to go visit and console his wife. Both Athrun and Cagalli had shared in their loss of their child earlier, but now, after an hour alone to think about things, he was ready to see what he could do to help Cagalli – and himself – heal.

“Sir,” the other guard, Patricia Ling, spoke up, though she was a bit hesitant, “both Barton and I would like to extend our sincerest sympathies on yours and the Princess' loss of the child.”

He blinked, at a completely loss of words for a moment before his surprise faded as he said, “Thank you, Ling, and you as well Barton. I will tell the Princess your words. I'm sure she'll appreciate it as I do.”

Entering the room, he found Cagalli listlessly looking out the window, not even having turned her head towards him when he entered. “Cagalli?” he softly asked as he closed the door and approached her bed. Taking a seat on the stool, he reached out and clasped both of his hands over her right one as she finally stirred from her thoughts and looked over. Her eyes were still red-rimmed, but compared to earlier, she looked a little better than before.

He didn't say another word and continued to hold her hand – that is, until there was a sharp knock on the door. A muffled voice said, “It's Dr. Hadrian, may I come in?”

Athrun saw Cagalli silently nod once as he let go of her hand and spun around in his seat to face the door. “Yes,” he called out.

The doctor bustled in, carrying a data pad with her. She gave him a shrewd look, frowning slightly, but he ignored it. He was used to people giving him strange, assessing looks – it came with his duties as Cagalli's bodyguard. “I have to ask you to leave, Mr. Dino,” Hadrian stated in a no-nonsense tone.

“Alex can stay, Lisa,” Cagalli spoke up. “Please, let him stay. He was the father of the child.”

The doctor gave him another look before pulling up another stool next to the bed and taking the seat. He saw her fiddle with a few things on the data pad before taking a quick glance at the vitals that were displayed on the screens above the bed. Finally, she placed the data pad down and folded her hands together. “Cagalli, there is no easy way to say this, so I'd rather give the news to you straight.” Athrun saw her nod before the doctor stated, “It will be very difficult for you to have children, if you ever try again.”

“H-how... why?” Cagalli asked after a moment as Athrun reached over and slipped his left hand over hers.

“Your physiology... its just,” the doctor began, before picking up the data pad and tapping something on the screen and handed it to her. “I know you're not a Coordinator, but I ran the tests that we usually give to parents who want to create Coordinators – to see the chances that the parents will end up with the child they desire. You must remember this, Cagalli, you being unable to have children is not as uncommon as you think. There are ways around this – surrogacy is the most popular option. Adoption is also another.”

Cagalli silently handed him the data pad as he took it with his free hand and glanced over at what was listed. The data looked familiar to him – it was a genetic profile of her. Silently handing the data pad back to the doctor, he caught Cagalli's glance over at him for a moment before she focused her attention back on the doctor. “What if... what if we created Coordinators? Will I be able to carry a child to term?”

Athrun sat still as he stared at her, stunned by her question. She had become pregnant with their child by accident. At first, she had been worried that he would not accept the child until he had told her that he didn't care whether or not the child was a Coordinator or Natural. He would still love both of them with all of his heart. Now... that child had been lost through a miscarriage that was in no way, Cagalli's fault. She had done everything the doctor had told her to in the first few months – nature just overruled their anticipation. He did not blame her at all, and just wanted her to get better.

“A child may be able to survive until term, if a boost is given to its compatibility between you and the child,” the doctor stated, folding her hands together again, “However, even that will not guarantee that you will be able to successfully carry it to term. Because of the specialized genetic sequences you will be introducing to this child, your body may instead, treat it as a threat and reject it.”

Athrun saw the doctor flick her eyes to him for a brief moment before saying, “First generation Coordinators being carried by Natural mothers are the most difficult to successfully survive. For every five first-generation Coordinator created, only one has survived.” She glanced over at him again, and asked, “What generation are you, Mr. Dino?”

“Third generation,” he answered.

The doctor nodded before saying, “If both of you are willing – and I need verbal agreements and signed ones from both of you – we will use most of his biological markers and sequences from his sperm, Cagalli. Then, we'll merge it with your egg, and inseminate it into you to create a Coordinator that will hopefully not be rejected by your body.”

“W-what does that mean?” Cagalli asked.

“It means that there is a greater percentage that your children will look more like him than you,” the doctor stated.

Silence fell upon them at the unspoken potential consequences that could result from the creation of a Coordinator child. It was not just political that they had to worry about, but also personal. Because the child would be born out of wedlock, he or she would still be considered nobility, but not a part of the potential line of immediate succession, should the Chief Representative be assassinated. Of course, Orb had a say in who actually ruled their country, but in the days that followed an assassination, it was usually the designated heir who took over until elections could be held. Both he and Cagalli had hoped that their child would take after Cagalli more than him, thereby allowing her to designate the child as an immediate successor.

“Take some time to think about it,” the doctor said, breaking the silence. “You both need to mourn properly and consider what you want to do next. The decision to create a Coordinator child can never be taken lightly.”

* * *

_C.E. 96, In Space..._

 

“Stand here, relax your grip. Even with dampeners on these things, if you tighten up, you'll risk fracturing...”

Athrun watched as the two former Orb guardsmen who had quit their positions and joined the crew of the _Archangel_ as mobile armor pilots, Hikaru Barton and Patricia Ling, adjusted the stance of the two people they were training. It was unconventional, especially to do something like this in space, but somehow, the crew of the _Archangel_ had managed to set up a portable firing range. The practice guns they used were modified with dampeners and fired rubber bullets. While the bullets were technically harmless, they still carried enough energy to dent the hull or injure someone. The hull concern was mostly alleviated with the set up of ballistics gels around the targets, and the reinforcement of the hull in the hangar bay in certain areas.

As soon as the relevant parts of the plan had been briefed to the pilots, both Yuki and Nicolai had immediately gone off on their own and asked the two former guardsmen for a brief lesson in marksmanship. While he knew that his son was not a pacifist, but did not like ZAFT, he was surprised at this turn of events. Nicolai took after Cagalli in a statesman like way, and he had thought his son was content on research and development projects – not being on a battlefield. Lenore definitely had the warrior side of Cagalli and him within her nature. While it was unfortunate that Nicolai had been thrust into the battlefield, as evident by his hesitation and lack of confidence when issuing battle data, Athrun thought his son and Yuki to an extent, would request to either remain on Heliopolis II or return to Orb when the _Archangel_ touched down on Earth.

Something had changed, and Athrun wasn't sure if he was comfortable with what his son was doing at the moment, even if it was just learning how to fire a dummy gun for the first time.

“Five Earth Dollars says that both of their first shots go wide and into the ballistics gel,” he heard Inga Aurelia state to her two companions as they walked past where he was standing in the shadow of _Strike_ 's feet.

“Wow,” he heard his daughter exclaim, whistling a bit, “you have an utter lack of confidence in your boyfriend _and_ Nicolai.”

“Hey!” the third person, a young man looking not older than sixteen years of age and wearing an Orb guardsman uniform, protested. Earlier, Athrun had been briefly introduced to the young man, Daneel Barton, when he had gone over to greet Hikaru after the pilot had landed in the hangar bay. “I think my father and Ms. Ling are good instructors! Ms. Ling taught Andrew how to shoot before he left for ZAFT, and me as well.”

“Okay, I'll take you up on those odds, Inga,” Lenore cheerfully answered. “Both of them hit somewhere within the paper targets.”

He saw the two shake hands, the deal done, and sighed to himself. Two _ptwot_! sounds later, he saw that indeed, both Yuki and Nicolai had hit the paper targets, though neither were anywhere near the outlines of the main targets. Both rubber bullets had impacted right on the edge between the paper and the ballistics gel that surrounded it.

He heard the two exclaim how strange it was to feel the kickback, as he saw Lenore cheekily nudge Inga before Inga said, “Fine, I'll get you a drink next time we're both in Orb, okay?”

“Deal.”

It seemed that the four at the range had noticed that they had a small audience as well, as he saw Barton call his son over and have him stand in profile. Both he and Ling began to point out the various aspects Yuki and Nicolai about what they needed to pay attention to before and after firing the weapon. “This brings back memories,” a familiar voice spoke up from beside him.

“Dearka,” he acknowledged, glancing over for a moment to see his former teammate join him in standing in the shadow of _Strike_. “H-how have you been?” he asked after a moment as he continued to watch the training session.

After hearing that his former teammate had been dishonorably discharged from ZAFT because of his actions taken during the war, it seemed that Dearka had disappeared from everyone's lives. While he wasn't friendly enough with Yzak to ask him if he had kept in contact with Dearka, it seemed that their former teammate's appearance in the Heliopolis II cell had been completely unexpected. Perhaps Yzak had lost touch with Dearka as well, even though the two had seemed to be extremely close friends much in the same way that he and Kira had been.

“Well,” Dearka answered. “I managed to get a job repairing mobile armors and suits on Augustus 10 after the trial. Wasn't as exciting as what we were all previously doing, but it paid the bills. Then came Canaver's offer. At first, I didn't want anything to do with her administration or with ZAFT anymore, so I refused. But she told me to think about it – and I did. Eventually I accepted the offer, though it certainly didn't come with any additional benefits. I didn't and still don't agree with a lot of the policies and laws she passed – especially the population initiative law, but a lot of the non-ZAFT folks did.”

He leaned back slightly to rest against the inert mobile suit, saying, “It's different, being a civilian and watching the ebb and flow of politics as one of the many citizens who can only be heard through Council members. I mean, as military, you let your actions speak through your words, but as a civilian, most of the time, you express your displeasure or anything else through votes... or petitions. I think Canaver wanted that perspective represented in FAITH, and now, I'm kind of glad that she did approach me with the offer. I've sporadically kept in contact with her, letting her know about segments of the population that did not like what was happening with her administration, and suggested alternatives. She has taken some of those suggestions and implemented them... so at least I know she's listening to me.”

“But you never knew when an order was going to come down to assassinate someone, or carry out some violent action against dissenters, didn't you?” he quietly asked.

“Yeah,” Dearka said, nodding, “That was my biggest fear. Ask me ten, twenty years ago, and I might've done it without a second thought in order to preserve the peace, but now...”

“They're all voices that want to be heard or are already being heard by their leaders,” he finished up. “Especially when compared to what has been hiding in the shadows for such a long time.”

“Yeah, and they also took out ten FAITH members,” his former teammate said before sighing. “Earth... the PLANTs, everyone's not ready for this war, even though we have new and improved mobile suits and ships. These guys, they had over twenty-five years to prepare, with the majority of those locking you, the Pink Princess, and everyone else who knows about the time-travel business, down. They crippled us---argh!”

Dearka pushed off from where he was, and stepped out from the shadow of the mobile suit, saying, “I'm going to see if they'll let me take a corner on that range and shoot something. I need the practice and thinking about what's happening on Nyabrius 13 is making me angrier. Want to come with?”

Athrun was about to decline the offer when a general announcement was made over the ship-wide com, as he heard Captain Ramius announce, “Attention on deck, the Junk Guild will be arriving in five minutes. All hands, prepare the hangar bay for incoming munitions and supplies.”

With that general call, those in the hangar sprang into action as they cleared several areas, tore down the temporary range, and moved things all around. It was almost time for the ZAFT ship to arrive as well. There would be a five-hour gap between the arrival of the ZAFT ship before the first of the reinforcements from Orb would get here. Heliopolis II had already cleared both the _Archangel_ and the _Bartolomeo_ to sweep further outwards, though most of the crew of the _Bartolomeo_ would remain with the ship until its engines could be repaired. Serpent's Tail had been contacted to provide some repairs, and they would arrive at around the same time that the Orb reinforcements would arrive. However, Athrun did not recall anyone contacting the Junk Guild though.

He glanced up as he floated out from the shadow of Strike to see Kira floating out of the cockpit, gesturing and talking with Simmons. Was Kira's contact that he said would assist him at L4, a member of the Junk Guild? While he knew some of the members of the organization, having met most of them either during the war when they became the tender ship for the Three Ship Alliance, or after the war when Morgenroete entered into an agreement with them about the space station, none of them struck him as someone who would know Kira well enough.

~~~

“Kira. Chief Simmons.”

Kira looked up from pointing out a line of code to Simmons as he saw Captain Ramius float towards him. Lacus was following her, though it was Ramius who had called out his and Simmons' name. Giving the data pad back to Simmons, he stopped the two of them as the four of them floated high above the din that was happening on the floor of the hangar bay.

“A single message came through a heavily encrypted line to the _Archangel_ – its origination point being the Junk Guild's vessel, which is still a little ways away,” Ramius said. “The message said, 'Tell Kira that I'll meet him outside'. Who is this person?”

“A person that you can trust, Captain. This person will be traveling with me to L4,” he said, trying to reassure both her and Lacus. “Did you manage to get the frequency in which the message was sent?” Ramius shook her head no. “Hmm...” he began, wondering just how he was going to break the news to Canard that he did not have a mobile suit to bring with him – only armaments that he could carry by hand.

“I don't know what's going on at L4 or why you and this other person need to go there, but if it will help you, you have my full blessing to pilot _Strike_ , Mr. Yamato,” Simmons spoke up.

Kira looked at him, his mouth opening slightly in surprise, though he was speechless for a few minutes before seeing Ramius also nod. Immediately he shook his head, “I can't,” he said. “The crew built it--”

“It was built to keep the peace, Kira,” Ramius said. “We need every advantage right now, and as the original pilot of _Strike_ , you are the best person we could ask to pilot it. You are, after all, the one who convinced all of us to fight for what is right and just when you returned to save us at JOSH-A all those years ago. Had it not been for you, I don't think any of us would be here. The debt the crew owes to you is one that can never be repaid, but having and knowing that you are the pilot behind the rebuilt _Strike_ will give everyone here courage to face the future.”

“Captain Ramius...” he began, but could find no other words to express his feelings.

“There is no need to say anything, Kira. There should be flight suit your size down in the lockers. Go, and please take care of yourself at L4,” Ramius stated.

Silently nodding, he then reached over and grasped both of Lacus's hands. No words needed to be said between him and his wife. They both knew how dangerous each of their own missions were. Their eyes silently communicated their love for each other and hope that when they met again, all would be well. Making his way towards the main walkway, he entered the ship and made his way down to the lockers.

Entering the familiar area, opened a couple of the unlocked lockers, peeking in and closing them until he found one that the right sized flight suit that would fit him. Stripping down to his shorts and shirt, he hung the clothes up and reached over to take the flight suit out. It was white with stark, thick blue trimming and lines of black that bisected several areas – an older variant, but still functional, flight suit of Orb that looked similar to the flight suit he wore when he had been in OMNI. The irony was most definitely not lost on him.

“Kira,” Athrun's voice caused him to pause in his complete removal of the flight suit from the locker.

“Athrun,” he answered in kind as he put on the flight suit. His best friend floated over towards him, placing a hand on the locker next to the one he was getting changed at to stop his forward momentum.

“Be careful,” Athrun worriedly said, as Kira zippered up the flight suit and secured the neck clamp on the suit. There was a concerned look on his friend's face, something that he had not seen since they had reunited and fought together in the war.

“I will,” he answered. Whether it was impulse or just because their parting reminded him of a long-ago memory that had remained with him after so many years, he suddenly leaned forward slightly and embraced Athrun tightly. “You be careful as well, Athrun,” he said.

He felt him reciprocate the hug before they let each other go. Picking up his helmet, he closed the locker and together, they floated back out into the hall. As soon as they got to the hangar bay, Athrun remained with the others on the main walkway as Kira vaulted over and made his way towards _Strike_. Looking down at some of the crew, some whom he remembered were part of the original crew. They were the ones who knew the signals and thus, he gave the appropriate OMNI, non-combat launch hand signal – he was ready to go.

Clamps holding _Strike_ began to grind apart, releasing their hold on its berthing port. He climbed into the cockpit and settled himself in. Firing up the OS, he closed the cockpit and saw that everything was checking out just fine. He brought up a visual zoom of where Lacus, Athrun, and the children were standing. Chief Simmons was standing near them, and he could see the utterly excited cheer that Simmons must have shouted at the fact that the mobile suit was activated and about to take its first steps.

Taking one last look at his loved ones, he closed the feed and focused on bringing _Strike_ to the launch rails. It had been just under twenty-three years since he remembered launching from the _Archangel_ with _Freedom_ , but the movements seemed as familiar as if he had just done them yesterday. This certainly was bringing back a lot of memories, both good and bad, even if the mobile suit he piloted was an upgraded version of _Strike_.

“Kira, proceed to launch rail one,” Ramius's image feed and voice popped up on his screen. “We only have the Aile pack for you, but the new armaments installed within the mobile suit should compensate for it. It seems that there is a mobile suit transport from the Junk Guild already waiting for you outside, on the port side of the ship. Good hunting and godspeed.”

“Thanks.”

As the airlocks to the first launch rail depressurized and the transfer unit carried him forward to the rail, the familiar strobe lights flashed all around him as he felt a bump behind him and to his mobile suit's arms. The Aile pack was installed on his mobile suit and moments later, the launch doors rose open.

Kira saw the launch indicator wink down to clear before declaring into the com channel connected to the bridge, “Kira Yamato in _Strike_ , launching!”

* * *

_A Short Time Later..._

 

The Junk Guild wasn't even half-way done with their much appreciated resupply of the _Archangel_ , especially with badly-needed munitions when another general announcement was made across the ship, “ZAFT vessel _Hemingray_ on approach.”

“I guess that's our cue to leave,” Athrun heard Dearka say as the two of them placed the boxes they had been transferring from one of the shuttles onto the bed of the tram.

Giving a heads up to the crew members, both of them headed up to the main walkway and into the ship. Making their way down to the lockers, Athrun removed the rather itchy blond-haired wig that Dearka had hastily jammed onto his head when the Junk Guild had brought their shuttles in to begin the resupply. His former teammate had also forced him to wear a mechanics coveralls as well, to hide his red uniform.

He found a flight suit that fit him, but as he stripped out of both the coverall and his uniform, he stuffed the coverall into the locker. He was not going to leave his uniform on the ship. Instead, he placed his uniform into a duffel bag and slung that around his shoulders. Picking up his helmet, he followed his former teammate out.

In the middle of the hall, they encountered Lacus. He waved Dearka ahead, knowing that his former teammate would wait for him before departing. “Lacus,” he began, seeing worry cloud her eyes. “Kira will be all right.”

“I know,” she said, nodding. “You be careful as well. Whatever these people are planning with Nyabrius 13... be careful.”

“I will,” he answered. “Take care and be safe, Lacus.”

Without another glance back at her, he left and made his way back out to the hangar bay and secured his helmet before entering it. Setting the face plate to max polarity, he floated down to where _Buster_ was, and into the cockpit. The other ZAFT pilots and Yzak were already back on the _Bartolomeo_ , having launched and returned after _Strike_ had launched. They would have already been monitoring the approach of the ZAFT warship and would have begun their own transfer procedures.

_Buster_ would be transferred onto the _Hemingray_ as soon as it had secured all mobile suits belonging to the FAITH members. Only the Zakus and Astrays that had survived the battle would remain with the _Bartolomeo_. Athrun hoped that whomever was going to be the captain of the _Bartolomeo_ after the transfers were done, would treat the pilots of the Astrays well – there were still Coordinators who did not have a high opinion of Naturals, after all.

* * *

_On the Junk Guild's Mobile Suit Transporter..._

 

Kira glanced up from the console he had activated to engage the clamps that wrapped around _Strike_ , securing it to its berthing port. While the transport was made to carry mobile suits, it looked like it could only transport four of them. Only one other port was taken, opposite of where he had berthed strike. The mobile suit was unfamiliar to him, but the readings on the shared console that all ports used indicated that the mobile suit was designated as _Hyperion_.

Launching himself up from the cavernous bay, he reached the main walkway and entered the ship. Directly across from the door that led into the bay was the door the led into the cockpit. The hall that sat perpendicular to where he was currently standing led to cramped sleeping quarters, and the other to a tiny galley and latrine area. Well... at least the galley and latrine had not been blocked off by a double stack of boxes as the sleeping quarters were.

He blinked, but he should have known better that Canard was going to bring a lot of weaponry with him – that was what was marked on the boxes that blocked the way to the sleeping quarters. He had also seen crates of mobile suit munitions haphazardly shoved into the corners of the hangar bay when he had brought _Strike_ in. While he wasn't expecting a protracted fight on their hands, he was slightly glad that Canard was even more paranoid than he was. If the undead space apocalypse happened, they would have at least enough ammunition to hold out on the transport for at least a week.

Quietly sighing to himself, he waved a hand on the panel in front of him to open the door to the cockpit. It slid open with no protest, surprising him slightly. Floating in, he swung himself over and settled into the co-pilot's chair. Detaching and removing his helmet, he settled it to the side as he glanced over to see Canard glancing at something on the console before focusing his eyes on the vast expanse of space ahead of them. He looked at the ETA tracker to L4 – they were going to get there in about sixteen hours.

“We'll switch in six hours,” Canard gruffly stated without even bothering to look over at him.

Kira silently nodded and even though he knew that it wasn't exactly safe to sleep so near his brother, he did so of his own volition. Right now, he felt safer being near Canard than anywhere else, especially since they were both willingly returning to L4. The chances of his brother killing him in his sleep were much less than what he predicted they both would be walking into, in that cluster of abandoned colonies.

* * *

_ZAFT Warship, Hemingray..._

 

The line out was as secured as they could make it, but even then, Athrun was still a little nervous. As the background of static and snow finally resolved to show a familiar face, the first thing that Yelena Korsakoff said, “I knew it! You're too good of a pilot to be dead!”

“Hello to you too, Korsakoff,” he answered in a mild tone before stepping slightly to the side so that the video feed also captured who else was in the room with him.

“Oh, hey, Yzak,” the former ZAFT operative greeted, grinning. “How's my son and daughter? I heard Heliopolis II was successfully defended by the ZAFT-OMNI-Orb allied forces.”

“They're fine,” he heard Yzak answer in a surprisingly friendly tone. “They've finally met as well in their respective careers in OMNI and ZAFT.”

Korsakoff chuckled at that before shaking her head. “I've never thought that either of them would go military. Guess it was inevitable, but I digress. You guys obviously encrypted this line for something other than exchanging gossip. So, shoot.”

“I'm calling in that favor you owe me, Korsakoff,” Athrun stated.

“Go on,” she answered, waiting for him to tell her exactly what he needed.

“Get seven FAITH operatives – and yourself if you're so inclined to help us – into Nyabrius 13, without anyone finding out,” he said. “You have about sixteen hours.”

* * *

_On the Archangel...._

 

No one else was allowed into this room, and even though Murrue wanted to at least inform Lacus what she was going to walk into when they arrived at the capitol of the Eurasian Federation. However, out of respect to the young woman in front of her, and to the secrets she kept from the rest of the crew, she didn't. Thus, she stood near the door, just in case someone overrode the locking mechanism and decided to enter.

She watched Keiko Sakamoto, OMNI mobile suit pilot, and niece to her former second-in-command, Natarle Badgiruel, smooth out her borrowed clothes again before hitting the button that would connect a secured line down to Earth. She had been afraid that Sakamoto would not have obliged her request, given that it was known in official records that the _Archangel_ had destroyed _Dominion_ during the war.

To her surprise though, the young pilot had stated that while she still carried some anger towards the _Archangel_ 's crew for what they had done during the war, it was not her grudge to bear. Thus she had agreed to this task, strictly because the threat they all faced was much greater than her own concerns. It was then that Murrue realized that even as young as she was, she possessed a maturity that very few her age had. Whatever the future held for all of them, she was sure of one thing: Sakamoto was going to be a powerful political force if or when she decided to run for office.

The wait was not long as she saw the image fizzle slightly before resolving into a familiar-looking man. “Keiko,” the man greeted, palpable relief tinging the tone of his voice.

“Hello father,” she answered. “You know that I would never call upon you unless the situation is dire.”

“I know,” he answered, nodding sagely, “and before you tell me what you need, might I just extend my sincere condolences to you with regards to the death of Captain Ivanova and the crew of the _Cygnus_. They will be missed.”

“Thank you, father,” she stiffly answered. Silence fell between the two of them for a brief moment before she looked back up and squared her shoulders. “Father,” she began. “I have information about those who attacked the Junius 7 Memorial and Heliopolis II – they may very well be within our borders and may have been operating within our borders for some time. I dare not say anymore, but when I arrive home, I will need every ounce of your influence as Prime Minister to provide the appropriate excuses. Will you grant me that request?”

Silence answered her question, but a few moments later, Prime Minister Stephanopolos closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again. “I will.”

 

~*~*~*~

 


	8. Chapter 7: Worthy of Survival

**Chapter 7: Worthy of Survival**

_C.E. 71, Mendel Colony, L4..._

 

Even though this was the second time he had been down here, the eerily silent halls of the colony named Mendel still sent unusual chills and apprehension down his spine. There was something about this colony in particular, even though the revelation about what happened here was shameful, abhorrent, and happened in the past, that still did not sit well with him. It was as if he could still hear the ghostly screams of all those children the scientists had killed before and after they had been born.

Cautiously making his way from the main foyer and down into the halls of this abandoned facility, he pointed the gun which ever way. Even with his two flyovers and intense visual scanning of the area, there had been no other sign of life – or at least nothing mechanical or mobile suit.

The bandoleer of grenades that was slung over his shoulder bumped against his flight suit as he sprinted from hiding place to hiding place, following the path that he remembered taking with Mu. He knew that he was ill suited in trying to role-play being a soldier, when he clearly did not have the training. Still, everything that he had learned through watching Mu and the others, along with what he had been taught, he kept and used to keep himself safe here. Abandoned or not, Mendel was still dangerous.

Inching his way down the hall, after passing the vats, he finally arrived at the entrance to the lab. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out and pointed his gun directly into the room. Instead of the lab being empty and full of various items that had been scattered and broken in the last firefight, there was already someone in the room. That someone looked just like him, except older and with longer, darker hair. The stranger was wearing a flight suit that bore the colors and emblem of the Eurasian Federation, and was pointing a gun directly at him as well.

“Who are you?” he demanded, standing his ground. Neither of them had fired at each other yet, even though Kira was sure that the person would have already fired the moment he had emerged from hiding. There was too much of a soldier stance that emanated from the man who looked like him.

“Kira Yamato,” the man said, stepping away from the console he had been looking at. “We finally meet.”

~~~

_C.E. 96, Somewhere In Space..._

 

“Wake up.”

Kira stirred and blinked the sleepiness from his eyes as he focused his gaze first on the cockpit panel in front of him before looking up and over. Canard was already getting out of the pilot's chair and was making his way out of the cockpit. As the door swished closed, Kira took a look at the ETA tracker – exactly six hours had passed since he had fallen asleep.

He shook his head slightly – he had not dreamt about the past, especially about that particular time in a long while. Glancing back at the closed door, if it were any other person who had left without another word or glance at him, he would have at least gone after him or her to see what was the matter. But this was Canard, and he knew better than to bother his prickly brother. Returning his attention to the front, he adjusted himself within the harness and settled for staring at the blackness of space that was occasionally interspliced with a quick look at the console.

Canard had given him six hours to rest. The least he could do was give him six hours as well. As for the remaining hours before they arrived at L4, well... that remained to be seen as to what the two of them would do when that time came.

~~~

_C.E. 71, Mendel Colony, L4..._

 

“Do I know you?” Kira cautiously asked, taking a couple of steps into the lab, keeping his gun pointed at the man. It worried him that this person knew his name and had been perusing something on the consoles in this damned colony. Was this another trap set in Rau LeCreuset's postmortem arsenal? Another thing to cause him grief by saying that not only was he the product of an experiment that sacrificed so many lives, but a clone as well? The irony would not be lost on him if LeCreuset did such a thing.

“No, why should you?” the man derisively stated. “You were the one they lauded, the one who succeeded where others failed. You were their greatest creation – the Ultimate Coordinator – and they kept you insulated, safe, and happy. You did not know the pain and suffering of the others, you never knew how they suffered, how they were ridiculed for being failures, how they died just so you could live!”

The blood drained from his face as his hands and the gun they held shook – the realization of what...who exactly this man standing in front of him almost overwhelmed him. “What?” he managed to utter.

_Bang_!

The sound of the bullet being discharged made Kira jump, but it was much too late for him to dodge as he glanced down, expecting to see a pool of his blood blossom out from the center of his chest. Except that there was no crimson splotch. He looked back up – had the man missed?

“I suppose that proves that I am not a failure,” he heard the man mutter before seeing him holster his gun and return his attention to the console he had been working at.

Kira holstered his gun as well before detaching and removed his helmet. As he brought it down to clip it onto his waist, he noticed that there was a streak of black – carbon scoring – directly down the top-center part of the helmet. He looked back and saw the impact point of the bullet behind him. It was within the wall across from the entrance, and was directly where the top of his helmet had been. Whatever the man had done, it was not quite a deliberate miss, but it did leave the carbon scoring on his helmet without damaging the integrity of it.

Clipping the helmet to his waist, he made his way over, but the man immediately and gruffly said, “Stay away from me, Yamato! I have no interest in getting to know you or being friends with you. I'm just here for the information I need and I'll be gone. You can then blow this sorry place up to your heart's content.”

Holding his hands up in a placating manner, Kira stopped himself from further approaching, but decided to take the opposite console. The man glared at him before returning his attention to whatever he was searching for. Activating his own console, Kira guess-typed in a few commands before a prompt was brought up. He began typing a few commands that he hoped would allow him to crack the encryption within the console. While he didn't know how long this mysterious survivor of the Ultimate Coordinator Project was going to take – he would at least pass the time learning as much as he could about how and why the project was done.

He knew that he was setting himself up for more emotional and psyche pain, but he did not want LeCreuset's words to him haunt him for the rest of his life. He wanted to know what happened on his own terms before he destroyed the place. He wanted to make sure that if anyone tried to restart the project or create a derivative of the research, he would be able to stop them. Hundreds of lives should have never been scarified in a cruel experiment just to make sure one survived. He would not allow that type of blood to be spilled ever again.

Kira didn't know how long he had spent reading as much details about the project, about his 'father', about his 'mother', and various scientists that included his adoptive parents, when a sudden bang of a fist on the console opposite of him caused him to look up. He heard the man mutter a rather coarse expletive under his breath before seeing him type a few more things on the console before him.

“At least tell me what you're looking for,” he said after a few moments of silence that was punctuated by the sound of fingers hitting the keyboard in a rather angry fashion. “I can help you look.”

“Goddammit, Hibiki,” he heard him say after a few more minutes of silence. “Why the hell were you not as fucking explicit and detailed in notes about cloning as you were with the Project?! Is this your petty fucking way of making sure that your sponsor did not get the last fucking laugh?!”

“Al DaFllaga and Rau LeCreuset?” he asked, as he typed in and cross-referenced those names to bring up the notes and details of that other horrific experiment. “Is there another clone of DaFllaga running around, wanting to watch the world burn?”

“No,” the man immediately stated, looking quite incensed and angry at him for suggesting such a thing before returning to his search.

He saw him clench his teeth and thin his lips in frustration. “But there is someone, right?” he quietly said. “A clone of DaFllaga that has not been raised as LeCreuset had been?” The man remained silent, but it did not escape Kira's notice that his typing had slowed considerably. “You care about him, don't you?” he gently pressed. “He's dying, and you want to try to find if there is a cure to his rapid aging left in Dr. Hibiki's notes.”

The silence between them stretched until it got quite uncomfortable. Neither of them were typing on their respective consoles anymore, and just as he thought the man was going to probably pull out his gun and actually shoot him for saying those things, he heard him whisper, “Prayer Reverie. He saved me.”

“Then let's--”

“No,” the man interrupted. “Execute a virus to wipe out the information about the Ultimate Coordinator Project. There are exactly three hundred and ninety-four servers that they stored information on. A majority of them are inaccessible to us due to structural damage and other factors. They are all still connected on the network, and that network can theoretically still transmit data down to Earth or other places. Once that virus is done destroying the data here, patch it through and transmit it into all the satellites. I'll do the same to the clone data once I find what I need.”

Kira silently nodded and focused back on his own terminal. Bringing up the necessary things he needed, he began coding in a variant of the first and only virus he had accidentally written and transmitted throughout all of the Lunar Preparatory Academy when he had been younger. That had destroyed all of the lessons that the instructors had kept online, forcing the Academy to cancel classes for a week. Back then, he had only meant to have some random glitches happen during lessons, but...

He had been thankful that the computer science instructor had defended him quite vigorously when he had been questioned. Now, though, his first programming mistake made was going to be put to use for a better world, and a brighter future.

~~~

_C.E. 96, Somewhere In Space..._

 

Kira blinked as he saw the ETA clock hit six-and-a-half hours since he had taken the shift. Canard had not returned yet, but considering how little he knew about him, he didn't think a former soldier like him would be late for anything. Taking one last look at the console, it didn't register any bogeys and thus he unbuckled himself and climbed out. Making his way out of the cockpit, he glanced down both ends of the hall – the stack of boxes on the quarters end didn't look like they had been moved. He floated towards the latrine and galley end. No one was there either, though he did take advantage of both cramped facilities before floating back down the hall.

He opened the door to the hangar and heard the sounds of someone typing away. Making his way down, he saw Canard at the console, using the overhead crane to move two beam rifles towards the legs of _Strike_ before attaching them to the holsters that had somehow been attached to his Gundam. The other mobile suit, _Hyperion_ , looked like it was also outfitted further than he had seen it before.

“You didn't encrypt your OS,” his brother derisively stated as he settled onto the floor beside him and brought up his own terminal to begin calibrating the new external weapons that Canard had apparently installed while he had taken the six-and-a-half-hour shift.

“Did you install a virus that would be unleashed in the middle of fighting so that it would blow me up then?” he answered in kind.

He caught the edges of Canard's lips quirking up in a sardonic smile. “One can only dream,” his brother stated.

~~~

_C.E. 71, Mendel Colony, L4..._

 

“Give me those.”

Kira looked up from the fizzling monitor on the console he had been working in as the last of the virus ate through the OS that had kept this entire laboratory together. The man was extending a hand out to him, and gestured again before pointing to the bandoleer of grenades he still wore. There was a disk in his other hand and it seemed like he had found whatever he needed from the cloning project.

“Why?” he asked

“Because you're going to place them in the wrong areas to blow this shithole up. You're not a soldier. Just a civilian who got lucky enough to be shoved into this idiotic war.”

He frowned – not that he was used to people swearing around him, but this particular 'brother' of his, if he could stomach calling him that in his mind, seemed a little extra salty. Bitter as well, and definitely did not win any affection points for the lack of understanding as to how he became involved in the war. It did make him a little unsettled though, as to how this man knew that he had been involved in the war.

“Tell me your name first,” he challenged, hoping to at least get the survivor's name, even though he was well aware that the man could possibly easily best him in hand-to-hand combat.

“I'm a fucking failure from the Ultimate Coordinator Project,” the man stated. “Why the hell would you even bother to care about knowing my name?! Go live your fucking nice life, now that there's apparently peace in the world and between Earth and the PLANTs!”

He tried to remain calm as he clenched his teeth for a moment – this 'brother' of his was starting to grate on his nerves with his attitude. “You know a lot about me, more than most people know,” he began. “You hate me. You probably want to kill me. You don't want a familial relationship with me – that's fine. I'm fine with all that, but at least tell me your name. Surely whoever rescued you from this hell hole taught you to introduce yourself to others – warrior to warrior.”

The intensity of his glare at him was quite hostile, and the silence that stretched between them grew very uncomfortable. “Canard Pars,” the man gruffly stated after a moment. “And you're right on all counts, except that you're not worth killing anymore.”

The sarcastic quip was at the tip of his tongue, but Kira held himself back. He was well aware that his behavior ever since entering here was not what he usually thought or acted like. Either Mendel and the information he read about was getting to him more than he liked, or Canard was bringing out an unexpected side of him. Instead, he slipped the bandoleer off of himself and handed it over to Canard.

“I'm glad you got the information you needed. I hope the one you deeply care for, is healed from it,” he said after taking a deep and calming breath, and truly meant his words.

Canard was silent as he roughly snatched the bandoleer from him, plucked one out and slam it on the console, activating the remote trigger mechanism. He then stiffly walking out of the lab. Kira followed, keeping his distance from him, but it seemed that Canard didn't care. He silently watched as his brother went to the vat room and placed a few others around certain areas.

As they went from room to room, vat area to vat area, placing the explosives in key areas, Kira could not help but despair at just how many artificial wombs there had been. Each vat room they entered must have held at least fifty or more of the machines. He had read the numbers, but seeing it was something else entirely. Too many lives had been sacrificed...

“Time to go,” he heard his brother say, as he glanced over to see him discard the empty bandoleer and put his helmet back on.

He did the same with his own and followed him out of the area. On the outskirts, but not near where he had parked his borrowed _Strike Rouge_ , he watched as Canard detonated the well-placed grenades with little fanfare. The entire area collapsed to the ground, sending dust and debris everywhere. While initially, he thought that he would be the one to press the trigger, it seemed that his brother hated this place more than he did – judging by just how tense Canard was holding himself. Kira didn't even have any memories of this place, but it was clear from his brother's stance that his brother had been well aware, and probably even had clearer memories of what the scientists had done to him.

“Here,” Canard unexpectedly said as Kira turned to leave without any other word of departure to him. There was nothing else either of them needed to do, and saying 'goodbye' seemed to be the most awkward thing ever that neither was inclined to do.

He paused and turned back around to see that his brother had handed him a tiny slip of a paper that had numbers on it. Taking it, he looked at it with puzzlement before hearing him say, “If some bastard decides to restart the Project again, let me know. I'll kill every last one of them.”

~~~

_C.E. 96, Somewhere In Space..._

 

“How's Prayer Reverie?” he hesitatingly asked. Both of them had been working on arming their mobile suits with extra weapons and ordinance for the last two hours in relative silence.

“Dead.”

Kira immediately stop typing on his console and looked over. “I'm sorry--”

“For what?” Canard asked. “It was fourteen years ago. You're a little late on the condolences, if you had wanted to give any – which I would have just ignored.”

“Still--” he began.

“I didn't send you any condolences when your sister was assassinated, so don't bother with your platitudes on me,” Canard caustically answered. “That's life. Shit happens, people die.”

It was difficult to keep his anger from rising at that nearly flippant remark, but he tried to keep his temper in check. Even with the front his brother had put up, Kira had heard the pain within his tone. This person, Prayer Reverie, who had saved Canard during the war – his death had hit him quite hard; more than anything else.

Somehow, his brother had managed to pick up the pieces of his life after Prayer's death, but the result was still the same. Whereas Athrun had him and Lacus to lean on, Canard seemed to not have any person to help him through the grief. The hollow within Canard was the same as the hollow within Athrun after Cagalli's death – except much larger, and probably not repairable.

“I'm sorry,” he repeated, but said nothing else.

They resumed typing and calibrating the newly installed extra armaments in silence, though after about a half-hour, Canard suddenly asked, “How's your wife and boyfriend?”

Kira blinked, frowning slightly in puzzlement as he looked up and over from his screen towards Canard, who was still typing away, as if he had not asked that question. “Lacus is fine,” he tentatively answered, ignoring the 'boyfriend' quip. “She was injured during the battle, but she's healing. If you're asking if she knows about you, she doesn't. No one knows about you. I figured that you'd want it that way – to live your own life in peace.”

“You're a terrible liar as well,” Canard stated. “Had I had malicious intent, you just told me that both Lacus Clyne and Athrun Zala are still alive, dumbass.”

“You didn't kill me at Mendel all those years ago,” he countered. “I had a reason to trust you.”

“And even with my flight suit and emblem back then, you decided to trust me, idiot,” his brother stated, looking up at him with a cool, narrowed-eyed look. “I was Eurasian Federation, Kira. You... you were fucking OMNI. Just because I didn't kill you back then doesn't mean that you should have trusted me or any other soldier from another faction. You just got lucky with converting Zala and his teammate to yours and the Pink Princess' cause.”

“What, so I am supposed to... or was supposed to have lived the rest of my life, barely trusting even my friends?!” he said, stepping away from the console and crossed his arms over his chest. “What is wrong with you, Canard?!”

“You and your wife had the _Eternal_ and her crew at L4 for a while. You could have stopped this madness long ago, yet you didn't--” his brother began.

“Because none of us wanted to change the future or our pasts! Because Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, and I were stuck in a loop! We were caught between knowing what happened in our past two years after the end of the war when our children were transported to that time, and what happened up until when those people attacked the Junius 7 Memorial!” he interrupted him.

“So, the truth finally comes out,” Canard stated after a moment of silence. “The media claims you to be an 'architect of peace', but really... you just let these bastards grow in the shadows. How many times did you or the Pink Princess try to change fate?”

“None,” he quietly answered, knowing that there was harsh truth within his brother's words. “We didn't try. We didn't want to cause a paradox or worse.”

“And how many times did Zala try to change fate?”

“I said none,” he repeated, but then faltered slightly as he thought back to what Athrun had done in the past. “There was at least one time,” he amended his statement. “He tried to stop his daughter from joining ZAFT. She was one of the four who were transported through time, back to C.E. 73.”

“He tried once before that time,” Canard said. “After your sister was assassinated, my contact in the PLANTs told me that in addition to finding the scientist responsible for your sister's death, Zala had found a database containing key notes from Hibiki's research. Of course, my contact stated that the database was purged, but neither you or the Pink Princess allowed the _Eternal_ to do a full sweep after stationing the ship at L4, didn't you? You only put that damn ship there as a fucking ineffective warning.”

Kira's hands curled up into fists as he briefly looked away in shame. “Yes,” he admitted. “I told both of them about the Ultimate Coordinator Project, but after what Athrun did up there in the PLANTs, I didn't think the scientists who tried to restart parts of the Project would be bold enough to continue. I was wrong. It was my mistake.”

At that moment, something on Canard's wrist beeped. He saw him glance down at it before saying, “Time to go rectify your mistake then.”

Uncrossing his arms, he followed his brother back up to the transport's cockpit, but did not slide into the co-pilot's chair. Instead, he hovered near the entrance, watching him dial back and slow the transport down as they slipped into the shadows of one of the larger pieces of debris that still hung around the area. Canard offered no explanation as to why he was doing what he was doing, but Kira didn't ask. As soon as his brother left the cockpit again, he leaned in and snatched his helmet up from where he had left it.

Placing it on, he then made his way back out to the hangar bay, seeing his brother at the console again, with his helmet on as well. The clamps on both mobile suits were being released. Floating to _Strike_ , he climbed into the cockpit and saw a small sack of grenades and several different guns and rifles strapped to the back of his chair. Well... if Canard wanted both of them to be walking arsenals, he would oblige him. He hoped that his brother remembered that he was not trained as a soldier, and had not fought or fired a gun on the ground since the end of the war.

Closing the cockpit, he brought up the OS and a quick scan through it told him that despite his tiny bout of paranoia, Canard had not messed with his OS other than write some modules for the recently installed weaponry. Kira had modified those modules and corrected for calibration purposes earlier. Opening a channel to _Hyperion_ , he asked, “Where do you think they're hiding?”

“Who knows,” Canard answered as Kira saw _Hyperion_ take a couple of steps out from its berthing area before reaching down to pick up a rather large crate that was marked 'MINES' on the underside. “I'm just here to blow this entire place up.”

Kira blinked, and even though there was nothing amusing about the situation, he could not help but bark in laughter. He should not have expected anything else from Canard. The man had a hatred for Mendel and the L4 cluster that surpassed even what he would consider normal for a person to carry grudges – and he had been witness to that long ago.

“Thank you,” he said over the channel as he maneuvered Strike out of its berth and picked up the second crate, following _Hyperion_ out. “For telling me the truth, no matter how harsh it was.”

“Your boyfriend would have told you himself, but he's too polite and nice, even if he was... is ZAFT's best soldier,” he heard Canard state as the two of them flew their mobile suits in and among the shadows of the outer debris of the abandoned cluster. “A bit too ennui as well, in my opinion.”

“Uh...” Kira began, slightly unsure as to how to respond to that remark, even though he knew exactly who Canard was referring to. Aside from the personal opinions that his brother had about Athrun, Kira never thought Athrun held strongly to the belief that their past and the children's future should have been changed. Never mind that it was clear that Canard had run into Athrun before – most likely on the joint Junk Guild-Morgenroete space station. Athrun had never mentioned anything about Canard or even a description about someone looking like him, to him. Therefore, he had to assume that Canard had been extremely careful not to have shown himself, considering just how 'I want to be left alone in my own miserable ball of guilt' his brother was.

“I'm married. I have a wife, not a boyfriend,” he finished, though it sounded slightly lame to his ears.

Silence answered his statement, though it seemed whatever else either of them were going to throw at each other disappeared as he saw _Hyperion_ slow down behind a piece that looked to be a broken support pole for an experimental colony that had existed here. “Open your crate and attach one to... there,” he heard Canard order, as he saw a marker appear on his HUD.

Flying over to the marker, he cracked open the crate and stared in shock at just what kind of mines were contained in the crate. “Canard... how...” began, gobsmacked.

“Did you catch the frequency of their coms?” Canard asked instead of answering his question.

“No,” he began before an idea struck him, “but I have an idea on the frequency we can use.”

“Eh, still useful then,” his brother stated. “Set it to that frequency.”

As soon as he was done, he moved slightly over to let _Hyperion_ get a good look at the mine. As his brother's mobile suit floated back to the other mine to adjust the frequency, he counted the number of mines within the crate – well, the entire place would most definitely be vaporized if everything was placed correctly. A tap on his mobile suit's shoulder indicated that Canard was done.

They continued to flit in and among the shadows, setting mines in seemingly random places in and among the cluster. There was no sign of life, mobile suit or otherwise in the husks of the former colonies in the area, but with the fact that the enemy possessed mirage colloids, they could be hiding anywhere. It was paranoid thinking, especially since nothing attacked them as soon as they set the last of the mines down. The HUD and indicators that all mines were still active – none had been disabled yet.

“Follow where I fly,” Canard ordered. “There will now only be one way in and out of this field. We're going ground side.”

“Copy,” he stated and slid in directly behind his brother as they made their way through the minefield and into the heart of the cluster.

While it would have been more prudent to clear the insides of the colonies first before lining the outside with mines, it provided both a defensive and offensive covering for them. They were only two mobile suits in a cluster of abandoned colonies that could hide a number of things. If the mines went off while they were ground side, it would serve as not only a proximity warning, but also a first-line of defense so that they could get back to their mobile suits and fly out to fight.

“Well, Mendel still looks like shit,” he heard Canard mutter over the channel as they flew into the colony and saw that the rubble where the Project's labs were still rubble.

Running a few more sweeping passes along the length of the colony, neither of them saw any other signs of disturbance. Everything was still eerily quiet here, and as soon as they flew out of the colony and back into space, Kira let go of the breath he had been partially holding. Relaxing his tight grip on the throttles of his Gundam, he continued to silently follow Canard to the next colony.

“This one is, or was, going to be Boveri-Sutton Colony,” he heard his brother murmur over the com as they approached a half-completed open faced torus colony that only had three spindly support spokes near the center. “I remember those bastards saying something about how, if they were successful in the Project, they were going to move all the children to this colony... or some shit like that.”

“Were... were there any others who survived?” he hesitatingly asked.

“You read the research,” his brother answered in a critical tone.

He remained silent and did not say anymore as he followed him to the colony. Both of them hovered on the outskirts of the half-completed area, but when it looked like _Hyperion_ was about to pull away and go to another abandoned colony, Canard suddenly pushed his mobile suit forward. “Something's not right,” he heard him mutter over the channel.

He followed behind him, eyes scanning everywhere as his fingers hovered over the triggers of his weapons. A quick check on his battery levels told him that he had plenty of power – more than what the first generation of _Strike_ had. Technological development in terms of powering mobile suits via battery had improved, but still had and would never reach nuclear core power.

As soon as _Hyperion_ touched the ground, Canard immediately stated, “Gravity. Shit.”

Kira placed _Strike_ down as well, feeling the heaviness of clearly Earth-standard gravity pull at not only him, but also at his machine. “Earth-standard, but the torus isn't even rotating,” he stated.

“No fucking way, Captain Obvious,” Canard sarcastically answered, walking his mobile suit forward so that both of them were not parking at the lip of the uncompleted area of the colony. “Don't forget to encrypt your OS this time.”

A few moments later, Kira saw his brother open his cockpit and lower himself via the cable. Canard was carrying a lot of armaments on him – enough to probably take down a fort by himself. Hastily bringing up his keyboard and OS, he wrote a quick and tight encryption program into the system and executed it. Shutting his Gundam down after the program was done, he got up and strapped the dual pistols on a belt around his waist. Then he took the bag of stuff, and slung all the rifles over his shoulders before opening his cockpit.

Touching down on the ground as soon as the cable ran taut, he hurried over to where Canard was. “Give me that rifle,” his brother said over their localized com, pointing to one of the many rifles that he was carrying. Kira obliged and handed the indicated one over. He saw him place another similar one against a half-completed block of what looked to be a load-bearing wall.

Together, they went from place to place within the seemingly abandoned place, dropping off satchels of grenades or rifles in areas. But the further they traveled, the further into the more developed and completed areas they entered. Still, nothing else greeted them as they finally came upon the colony proper that had some buildings, and other places that looked similar to what was on Mendel. He dared not ask the question of whether or not leaving random pieces of firearms in a scattered bread crumb path behind them was wise – Canard was a trained soldier and he could only trust him to know what he was doing.

However, that did not mean he was dependent on his brother to defend him – Kira still knew how to fire a gun, still knew how to fight and make sure to defend himself as best as he could. He refused to be a liability to his brother. Taking one of the pistols out of its holster, he did a quick check on the magazine level before arming it again. There was no atmosphere here, but there was gravity, so the kick back would not break his arms. However, since they would not be able to hear where possible gunfire would come from, they would have to rely entirely on visual sightings and instincts.

Canard had also taken out one of his two guns and as they both pressed themselves against the wall of a tall building, Kira saw him look warily around before inching forward. Peeking around the corner, it seemed that the coast was clear as he saw him silently gesture for him to go to the building diagonally up the street they were on. He nodded once in acknowledgment and dashed out of over.

Skidding to a halt and pressing himself as close to the wall of the shorter building, he saw Canard sprint over a moment later. Nothing had shot at them yet, but as Canard looked above and around again, Kira saw worry begin to grow on his expression. The building they were pressed against was the last of the ones that shielded them for a while. There was an inactive fountain and a park ahead, but still, nothing had engaged them from ahead.

Suddenly something drew Canard's attention away from his observations as he saw him look down at a message that had flashed across the tiny screen attached to the left wrist of his flight suit. The message was too short and Canard too fast, for Kira to catch it. Whatever it was, Canard had seen it, acknowledged it, and changed his stance. Unexpectedly, his brother suddenly stepped out of cover, casually sauntering his way towards the fountain, with his gun held loosely in his right hand.

“Canard!” he hissed over the com, tightening his grip on his gun as he peeked out. “What the hell are you doing?”

Instead of answering him, Kira heard a crackle over the com channel as Canard opened a general frequency, saying, “So you considered the ten FAITH members Canaver stationed on Nyabrius 13 more of a threat than either of us. I can't say that I'm disappointed, but hey, it'll be easier to kill all of you **and** blow your cradle of 'life' up.”

Kira only had a moment to realize that Athrun and the others were walking into a trap not of their own making, before the enemy opened fire upon both of them.

 

~*~*~*~

 


	9. Chapter 8: ...of ZAFT

**Chapter 8: ...of ZAFT**

_C.E. 74, Orb, Earth..._

 

“Alex, its been a while since we've seen you!” the cordial greeting that Leslie gave him, along with the more casual one that Joseph had thrown him as he walked into the reception area of the office of the Chief Representative, rang in his ears.

“Joseph. Leslie,” he answered in kind, nodding at them. It seemed that the two were in the middle of a shift change, which meant that Cagalli had a long night of reports and meetings ahead of her.

“The Princess has been expecting you,” Joseph stated. “Please go right in.”

“Thank you,” he answered and opened the door to Cagalli's office. Entering and closing it behind him, he only took two steps into the office and stood where he was, trying hard not to look at the other entrance he used to use. The one hidden behind the massive bookcase near the fake fireplace – the secret one he used to visit Cagalli before... well, before she had gotten married to Yuuna Roma Seiran.

“Athrun!”

He immediately stiffened slightly as he saw Cagalli dash out from behind her desk and rushed up to him, embracing him tightly. It had been over six months since she had told him about her plans to marry Seiran. In those six months, not only had she gone forward with the wedding, he had stayed with Kira, Lacus, and Reverend Malchio for most of those months. He only returned to Orb to make sure that the apartment he had been renting still had its bills paid, and that he was not falling behind on work at Morgenroete. In those six months, Cagalli had called and left messages, asking him to come with her to various places within Orb. Because of her impending and post nuptial duties, she had not been outside of the country for those six months.

He had ignored and deleted all of her messages.

Today was the first time in over six months that he had seen her in person, and it was only because she had scheduled a meeting. It was a request that he could not ignore, since it was on the Chief Representative's public schedule. To do so was to cause embarrassment to both him and her, and he did not have a valid excuse to miss it – his heartbreak and melancholy were not reasons.

“Princess,” he began, feeling her react to his formal greeting as she immediately let go and pulled back. There was confusion swimming in her eyes as he said, “I... I can't. You're married...” There was so much more he wanted to say to her, to explain why, but he could not get the words out – they were stuck in his throat.

“Athrun,” she began, still holding onto his hands as he held onto hers, unable to completely let go.

“I'll still protect you if you want me to, but...I can't... I don't know if I can... watch you... be with him,” he managed to say after trying to summon some more courage.

“It's only political, Athrun,” she protested. “You know that. You know why...”

“I know,” he quietly answered, “but he is still your husband, and I don't want to cause a scandal--”

“There have been kings and queens of this nation who have done this before, Athrun,” she stated. “I'm not the first to do so, and I'm not going to be the last ruler of Orb to do so. I still love you, Athrun. Do you still love me?”

He frowned and reluctantly, let her hands go as he took a step back. “I...” he began, but could not find anymore courage to say the words he wanted to say. Closing his eyes for a moment in remorse, he opened them again and said, “Goodbye, Princess.”

Turning around, he opened the door and stepped out. He found himself half-hoping that Cagalli would say something to him to stop him from leaving, or that his faltered bravery would return, but neither happened. Instead, he took the steps out and closed the door behind him.

* * *

_C.E. 96, PLANT Colony: Aprilius 4_

 

“Nyabrius 13,” he heard Yzak mutter in slight annoyance as the three-dimensional projection of the hourglass-shaped colony was brought up on the tactical table. “The most innocuous-looking colony, yet the most heavily guarded facility. Even more so than Martius 3.”

“Litmus test,” Korsakoff spoke up, as Athrun saw her pointing at him.

He frowned at the accusation, though he knew where it was derived from, as he heard Dearka bark in laughter. Giving his former teammate a very mild look, he slid that look further down the table, daring any of the other FAITH members gathered around the table to laugh as Dearka did. Apart from Korsakoff and Canaver, both of whom were attending the planning as well, the seven of them had made it to the PLANTs faster than anticipated.

Athrun had expected the seven of them to just meet up with Korsakoff, but surprisingly, the former ZAFT operative had instead, directed the four FAITH members to the Chairwoman's office through a public route. Yzak, Dearka, and he had taken a more clandestine route. When they had arrived, Athrun was not as surprised as he knew that he should have been to find that Korsakoff was now working for Canaver. She was not a FAITH agent, but more of a hybrid intelligence operative of sorts who reported to Canaver.

He supposed that Korsakoff's employment had to have happened sometime after he had thrown the traitorous Dr. Hadrian into Canaver's office. Yzak had been taken by surprise as well, and he knew just how terrible of a liar his former teammate was – Yzak could not feign surprise. As for Korsakoff's son, Andrew Barton, the young man did not show any signs of surprise – and only acceptance. With the two standing next to each other at the tactical table, the resemblance between mother and son was quite clear.

It was a small world indeed, especially with the Barton-Korsakoff family, but he pushed that thought to the side as he looked at the various schematics overlaid onto the projected model of the colony. The outside of it was similar to any other colony, but once the outer hull that protected it from space was stripped away, there was a dense electromagnetic field that ran through the entire outer volume of the colony. No signal could get in or out. Only courier packages shuttled to and from the colony on a daily and precisely timed basis, carried messages to the other colonies. Korsakoff happened to intercept a message hastily written and sent by one of the ten FAITH members within the colony.

The electromagnetic shielding was only the first layer of defense though. Should anything manage to penetrate the colony, it was covered in a vast amount of small laser armaments, both on the outside and inside. Most of the armaments inside were disguised as everyday, ordinary objects, or even the standard security cameras that were common around public areas within the PLANTs. The third and final layer were the biometric security scans of each person who worked in the facility that happened every fifty meters or so. Guests were allowed in on an approved basis, but they had restrictions on areas, levels, and buildings they were allowed to roam around.

In the time that he and Yzak had contacted Korsakoff with the request, she had managed to secure two pairs of passes for 'potential parents'. It was four passes and certainly not enough to get all eight of them into the colony. “We should use the passes,” Yzak stated. “But we can't have all four of you going in there,” he continued gesturing to the four pilots.

Korsakoff immediately hooked an arm around young Dalton Elsmann, who just happened to be standing on the other side of her, saying, “Well, I always wanted to be someone's sugar mamma.”

The young pilot's face melted into one of abject horror, while at the same time, Dearka sighed in exasperation, Barton placed his head in the palm of his hand in total embarrassment, and Athrun heard both Alice Joule and Lenore laugh. Only Canaver and Yzak raised eyebrows in reaction to Korsakoff's suggestion. Athrun had already indicated in his request to Korsakoff that she would be permitted to join the operation – she had been invaluable in providing help to him when he had hunted down Dr. Hadrian all those years ago.

“Okay,” Athrun said, nodding before gesturing to Yzak, saying, “You're going in there as well on a pass--”

“Hell--” Yzak began.

“But with your daughter,” he finished. “Chaperone of sorts, if you want to put it that way, or to make sure the donor she chooses matches your approval.”

“It better,” he heard Yzak mutter as Athrun caught the fleeting end of Alice Joule's face falling into a disappointed look. It seemed that his hunch about Yzak being quite protective of his daughter was correct.

Athrun tapped a few things on the projection, bringing up the diagram of the the inner facilities within the colony. “Alice, try to request donor profiles from this area.”

“Um, sir,” the young pilot spoke up in a slightly hesitant tone. “That's... that's where Chairpersons and Council members' profiles are stored...”

“That's also where the security of the terminals would be the weakest,” Yzak answered before Athrun could as he saw him narrow his eyes slightly. “No one expects to be broken into from there.” Yzak looked back up and said, “It will be difficult getting into there, but I think we can manage it.”

“Good, because that is where Dearka and I will also be entering in from. There's a garbage chute near that area. Highly secured, given its proximity to that facility, but easy to disable once we get a wireless signal router plugged to the outside.” He pulled up another image, this time of the external area of the colony. “This is where you come in, Lenore. Your mobile suit is the only one equipped with a mirage colloid. Dearka and I will be riding in the cockpit with you while you're under the colloid, and will get out in this area--” he gestured to the area directly near the garbage chute “--and you will plug the adapter onto the hull.”

He turned his attention to Andrew Barton, saying,”We'll only have a short moment before those 'technopaths' inside the facility detect it, so you'll have to be quick in triggering the EM field to drop, and disable the laser security systems with your mobile suit, Andrew.”

The pilot of _Meridian_ curtly nodded before saying, “Would a false nuclear detection signal do the trick, sirs?”

“It's going to bring out the entire cavalry,” Yzak stated, “but yeah.” Athrun handed him the controls to the tactical display as he briefly searched for something before highlighting it. “Chutes should be programmed to be opened in the event of a nuclear attack. You and Dearka will only have thirty seconds to get to the facility before it goes into lockdown.”

“Then I will make a general announcement to have all forces standby after that alert is triggered,” Canaver spoke up. “I will be able to send in the rest of your team with a valid excuse to secure the facility. The net formed by ZAFT will also prevent these 'technopaths' as you call them, from escaping.”

“Our orders while all of this is happening?” Korsakoff asked. “Search for the ten or find out what these 'technopaths' are after?”

Athrun glanced over at Yzak and saw him nod once, deferring to his command. “Both if you can, but prioritize the focus on the 'technopaths'. Yzak has command inside the facility and abort call. I'll take command of the external forces until Dearka and I get in. We know that these people can listen in to coms, so keep the chatter to a minimum once we're in. If we need to abort before we're all in--”

“I'll start shooting stuff up to trigger an emergency lockdown,” Korsakoff said in a rather cheerful tone.

“Uh...ma'am, I thought weapons weren't allowed in that colony?” Dalton nervously asked.

“Who says I was going to bring weapons,” she answered, grinning and tightening her hooked arm around the young pilot's own. “Security there has plenty we can use.”

“Any questions?” Athrun asked after a moment as Korsakoff let go of the poor, embarrassed pilot's arm. There were none as sober, serious faces greeted his query. They were as ready as they could be to infiltrate the most secure colony in the PLANTs, find out what the enemy wanted from it, and why their fellow soldiers had been killed for it.

* * *

_C.E. 74, L3 Sector..._

 

Kira woke up as soon as he heard the buzzing of the personal com-sat device that Cagalli had given to him to bring to the L3 sector so that he could keep in touch with Lacus, Athrun, and her. Blinking away his sleepiness, he sat up from his cramped bed within the salvage ship's general quarters. Activating the device as he placed the headset on, the image fuzzily resolved into Cagalli.

“Kira! I messed up!” she cried, her voice slightly tinny due to just how far away connection was.

“Give me one second,” he immediately answered, looking around as he saw his fellow crewmates stir a little. Climbing out of the bed, he floated out of the shared quarters and hurried to the hangar bay. Spotting the nearest Astray, he floated towards it and climbed into the cockpit. Closing it so that he had complete privacy, he adjusted himself in the pilot's seat, bringing the com-sat up so that he could see her and vice versa.

“What did you mess up on?” he gently asked, reaching out and placing a couple of fingers on the screen, as if he could reach out at the moment and give her a comforting and sympathetic hug. He wouldn't be able to for another two weeks. He and the crew here were finally finished clearing out all the debris, and would anchor the first of the many pieces of Heliopolis II that was to be launched in the coming years. After that was complete, then they would finally head home.

“Athrun,” she said, breaking down and crying the moment she said his name. “I-I lost him,” she said, hiccuping slightly.

He remained silent as she cried, wishing that he was with her at the moment to at least let her lean on him, letting her know that she was not alone. As her tears started to dry up and she started to calm down a little more, he then asked, “Did you tell him what I told you to tell him?”

“Yes,” she sniffed, before shaking her head. “No...” She sniffed again, reaching off screen for a tissue, and blew her nose before looking back up. “I tried,” she admitted. “But the words...”

“They got stuck in your throat,” he finished for her, sympathetically nodding. His own heart was aching slightly at just how miserable his sister looked. What had been exchanged between them to cause Athrun to leave her? He thought that his best friend still loved Cagalli, even after she had gone through with her marriage to Seiran. Kira had seen Athrun's heartache and uncertainty eat away at him during the six months or so he had spent on the island.

“He said he was still willing to be my bodyguard,” she said, still sniffling and hiccuping. “But...”

“Give him time, Cagalli,” he said, gaining a small insight of what exactly had happened. A similar thing had happened to both him and Athrun during their days at the Lunar Preparatory Academy, though they had each other to commiserate over it. “Give him time, and... give him some space.” He bit the inside of his bottom lip for a moment before quietly adding, “You did, after all, break his heart.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I wanted to say sorry, but...”

“Time will heal everything,” he said. “Both of you will heal from this. For now, let him be and just don't hurt him any further.” _Don't make the same mistakes I made before and during the war, Cagalli_ , he silently added. _I've hurt too many people and I don't want you to do the same_.

~~~

_At the Same Time, on Earth..._

 

Athrun wrapped his hands around the teacup, even though he wasn't fond of the beverage inside of it, and even though it was humid and hot outside. Still, the warmth seeping from the cup into his hands oddly made him feel a little better as he looked up to see Lacus take a seat opposite of him at the table. The orphans were all tucked in bed already, and Reverend Malchio had also retired for the night, but Athrun was not tired at the moment.

The two of them silently sat there, with Lacus occasionally taking a sip of the herbal tea she had brewed for both of them. At long last, he saw her put her teacup down and fold her hands together. “You didn't seem to have a problem with it when she was engaged,” she stated. “What changed now? Surely it isn't because she's married on paper, is it, Athrun?”

“I'm...” he began, glancing down at his untouched beverage before looking back up. “I'm just not as comfortable with it... I never was... even when she had told me she was engaged.”

Lacus was silent for a few long moments before saying, “It will hurt for a while, Athrun, but you should at least continue to be her bodyguard. She needs your protection.”

“She has plenty of capable Orb guardsmen to protect her,” he answered.

“Yes, I believe she does,” she agreed, nodding, “but I'm not talking about personal protection. I'm talking about political protection.”

He blinked, frowning slightly as he creased his eyebrows in confusion. “I don't understand, Lacus.”

“Alex Dino may be Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Attha's personal bodyguard, former lover, and former crew member of the _Eternal_ , but he is first and foremost a Coordinator,” she stated, staring unblinkingly at him. “What other nation on Earth or in the PLANTs have a Coordinator protecting a Natural, or vice versa?”

“None?” he hesitatingly answered, slightly unsure.

“Athrun Zala may be dead to the world, but Alex Dino is a symbol to the world, a symbol to the peace that we hold now,” she explained, nodding in affirmation to his answer. “The people do not see you as you are, Athrun. They only see the Coordinator in you, invested in protecting a Natural. It's a political protection you've instilled within Orb and the world. Orb leads the peace and keeps the peace. It will hurt, but you must continue to protect her, Athrun. She has the power that I don't have to unite the world, even if part of that comes from her marriage to Yuuna Roma Seiran.”

“So because she married Seiran to exert more influence over him and to an extent, over the East Asian Republic and Atlantic Federation, they think she's on a power grab?” he asked, finally understanding what Lacus was saying.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “There are so many things that Reverend Malchio had been asked to courier for between countries, that today was the first time in a while that he has returned to his own bed.”

“Lacus,” he began, sighing as he finally let the teacup go and removed his hands from it. “I don't know if I can separate my heart from my duties this time. It hurts too much.”

“You are Athrun Zala, formerly of ZAFT,” she said, unfolding her hands and reached out to place her left one on top of his right. “You had always put duty in front of your heart, until that day. I believe that with some time to think about it, you will come to a decision that will satisfy both your sense of duty and heart.”

* * *

_C.E. 96, PLANT Colony: Nyabrius 13_

 

“At least try to look excited, Dalton!”

Athrun was trying his best to keep a straight face at just how miserable the young pilot looked, dressed in a rather nicely tailored outfit. There was an exasperated look on Korsakoff's face before she briefly shook her head. “They're going to suspect you, if you walk into the colony with that look on your face. Everyone who goes there is relatively happy.”

The young pilot sighed and attempted to put on a better face. It looked a little less disgruntled, but apparently was enough to satisfy Korsakoff as she looped her arm around his and led him to the shuttle. Athrun knew that the former ZAFT black operative was not usually this outgoing, but it seemed that either time had changed her, or her cheerfulness was covering up her worry. He hoped that it was the former, rather than the latter, because if she was worried about what was going on, on Nyabrius 13, then it would only cause him to be even more concerned.

“Just make sure to request the geneticists to try to create black hair with orange streaks! I want my grandkids to look ultra-cool!” Dearka called out after the two of them.

Yzak's rather deliberately loud sigh was the only thing that answered Dearka's comment as Athrun saw him lead his daughter towards the shuttle as well. That, and the rather appropriate middle finger that Korsakoff had immediately held up in their general vicinity in reaction to _Buster_ 's pilot's commentary. “Eh,” Dearka said after the four of them disappeared into the shuttle, “I'm ready to retire from this life anyways.”

“You're only what... forty-two, forty-three?” he said as both he and his former teammate secured their helmets on and floated towards _Sentinel_. “You have twenty or thirty more years ahead of you before you retire. You might get bored if you retire now.” Dearka's answer was only to shrug as they entered the mobile suit and tried to find spots within the cockpit that were not going to cramp them up as much.

As Lenore began launch procedures and stomped her way out of the hangar bay and to the rear hatch, she hit a button to activate her mirage-colloid just before the hatch opened. The shuttle flew out first, and Lenore swiftly followed, though as soon as they were outside in space, she slowed her momentum down and panned her sensors to watch and follow the shuttle at a distance. She was careful to stay as close to the shadows as possible as they followed the shuttle to Nyabrius 13.

_Sentinel_ and the two of them would wait near the hull of the colony for one-and-a-half hours after the shuttle carrying half of their strike team entered the colony. For all intents and purposes, it looked like Nyabrius 13 was operating smoothly, but there was no doubting the veracity of the message that Korsakoff had intercepted. They had all seen it – there was something dangerous and suspicious going on in that colony.

Slowly and silently, Athrun, Dearka, and Lenore made their way to the colony, and when the timer finally hit the hour-and-a-half mark since the shuttle entered, there was no sign of an abort given. Athrun silently indicated to his daughter to open the cockpit, and even before it fully retracted, he and Dearka swiftly flew out. They positioned themselves not quite at the hull of the colony – there was no telling what an EM field drop was going to do, and neither of them wanted to experience the possibility of their thruster packs and oxygen supplies shorting out.

They watched as _Sentinel_ 's cockpit retracted close, sealing the mobile suit back into its mirage colloid. It was only after they saw the shadow of the wireless device on the hull of the colony appearing in the middle of seemingly nothing in space that they knew that _Sentinel_ had placed it there. It was triggered, and not a split second later, something shimmered around the colony before the garbage chute he and Dearka were hovering under suddenly opened. Gunning their thruster packs to full, both of them zoomed up and through the winding path to the area where they would burst through.

At the mental count of twenty seconds, with the fullness of gravity starting to tug at them, Athrun looked up. There was no light shaft spilling down on them, and neither had they heard the pressurization of a forced collapse of the space-side of the chute. At twenty-three seconds, a gust of wind blew past them, nearly stalling both of their advancement. At twenty-five seconds, the rapid pressurization stopped. At twenty-eight seconds, a shaft of light just meters ahead of him opened up.

Athrun shot out of the garbage chute, flying high into the sky, and looked down just in time to see Dearka's legs barely clear the lip of the chute before it suddenly snapped close. Dearka tumbled to the ground and at that same time, Athrun's thruster pack ran out of fuel. He fell, but managed to cushion most of his landing into a roll. As he came up from the roll, he saw Alice hurrying towards him. Further back, nearer to the chute was Yzak, helping Dearka up.

“Sir,” she said, throwing an unfolded a crinkly thermal blanket over him after he had retracted the thruster pods from his pack, and quickly led him back to where Yzak and Dearka were.

“Hug the west walls,” Yzak said as he draped the same type of formerly compact, easy to smuggle in, Faraday cage-like blanket over Dearka. “That's where the least amount of biometric sensors are. They didn't die with the lockdown. Rendezvous point is at the Criminal Profile Facility – lots of interference. We found something that we need to brief all of you on, and I bet Korsakoff's found something as well. It's a longer route to the rendezvous point, but you shouldn't have any trouble getting there. Alice and I will take the more direct route and see if we can secure weapons, and get the security people off of our tail.”

“Got it,” he answered after retracting his faceplate, as both he and Dearka nodded and slipped away, back towards the glowing walls and enormous racks of servers. He had only been in this area once before, when long ago, his parents had wanted to try for a fourth and final time – to give him a brother or sister. His father's profile had been stored in this area, since he had been a Council member well before he had become Chairman. As tempting as he was to want to look to see if his father's profile was still stored in a dedicated, individual server, he didn't.

He remembered that the colony had been quite a brightly lit, gleaming place that looked more science-fiction than practical. Smooth, white walls, back lit by soft blue lighting, and black-silver embellishments greeted all who had come to the colony to get their profile done, select the children they wanted created, or even chose genetically compatible mates if they wanted to. The facility he and Dearka were currently making their way out of, the Chairpersons & Council Members' Profile Facility, was embellished with gilded accents, and had various amount of private booths and the like. There was also a dedicated, well-maintained open-aired park in the middle of the facility to allow people within the facility to rest and relax.

Because it was such a private-conscious facility, it made it extremely easy for Dearka and him to get out without being detected. However, once they were out, they stuck to the west side of the colony as much as possible. Their progression was slowed by the occasional appearance of security personnel marching parallel or perpendicular to their route. Slipping through two more facilities, one of which was dedicated to those Junius 7 residents, they finally made their way towards the lesser desired side of the colony.

Even though most Coordinators had undesirable traits engineered out of them, there was still a slim chance that those traits could manifest themselves. Part of it was due to the mother's womb not being a perfect place. The other part was due to the nurturing, not the nature that gave birth to the re-manifestation of the traits – thus the creation of a Criminal Profile Facility. Athrun was not sure why such a place was created, but he had heard rumors that scientists loved to use the facility to find better ways of trying to find out why undesirable traits originally non-selected, still appeared.

When he and Dearka finally made it to the facility, they saw Yzak, Korsakoff, and Andrew standing at a rack of servers that seemed to be positioned over a long grate. Hurrying to the three, Athrun saw Korsakoff lift open a floor panel and Yzak jump into the bottom area. Silently following him, Athrun dropped in as well, followed by Dearka. Korsakoff and her son dropped into the area below shortly thereafter, with Korsakoff sliding the floorboard back over them.

“When I sent the command, I also uploaded a tiny randomized tracker program into their systems,” Andrew stated as both Athrun and Dearka ditched their makeshift Faraday cages. They accepted the guns that Dalton and Lenore handed to them as Andrew continued, saying, “It should randomized all of our tagged movements and hopefully buy us some time.”

“Oddly enough, someone has been transmitted a subspace communication that can't be detected by what security measures are in the facility,” Korsakoff stated, leading the way down the cramped corridor. “I only recognize the subspace signature because the Eurasian Federation used that same frequency to relay orders to Artemis when the _Archangel_ unexpectedly docked there. I couldn't tell where exactly it was being transmitted to, but it is somewhere within L4.”

Athrun glanced over at Yzak, seeing him narrow his eyes ever so slightly. Out of everyone gathered, only both he and Yzak knew where Kira's destination was, when he had left the _Archangel_ with _Strike_. Everyone else who had not been in that meeting had been told that Kira was going to the Moon to help petition the OMNI-Eurasian Forces there. It was supposed to supplement Lacus's petition on Earth, since there were a few influential military commanders stationed there.

Not that he, along with Kira, Lacus, Yzak, and Captain Ramius had thought there was the possibility of a mole on the _Archangel_ , or that they couldn't trust any of the pilots. It was the fact that L4 had long been a place that was unregulated that they felt the need for a slight misinformation. To take that extra precaution, just in case.

However, with the confirmation by Korsakoff on a signal somehow seeping out of Nyabrius 13 reaffirmed their suspicions about the technopaths. He hoped that Kira and the other person who was helping him would get an unexpected advantage over the enemy. L4 was already dangerous enough as-is, and with possible technopath interference at the cradle of life for the Coordinators on the PLANTs, he could not worry about Kira... or Lacus on Earth for the matter.

As the corridor opened up so that they could at least move three-person wide, Athrun saw Korsakoff gesture with her gun, saying, “The signal is coming from somewhere below ground, in the direction of the core. But what doesn't make sense is that the core should have interfered with a signal such as that.”

“There's also another thing,” Yzak spoke up. “I checked the logs for access on the profiles in the Council facility, and found fragments of someone who tried to wipe their access to certain Council members' profile at the same time the facility went dark.”

“What profiles?” Dearka asked, beating Athrun to the punch.

“Every single sitting Council member during the war,” Yzak stated. “That includes your father, Athrun.”

Athrun stiffened for a moment, but did not falter in his steps. Instead, his grip around his gun tightened as he briefly clenched his jaw in anger. An unknown signal leaking from the most heavily guarded colony, plus unauthorized access to genetic profiles was more than dangerous—it was criminal. “What about civilians?” he asked.

“Nothing that we could find in that short amount of time, sirs and ma'am,” Alice spoke up from behind them.

“What would they--” Lenore began.

“Hold!” he immediately hissed, as his sixth sense told him that something was amiss, just before they rounded a bend.

He crept forward as he sensed Yzak following close behind him, footsteps as silent as his own. Pressing himself against the wall before the bend, he waited for a few moments before peeking out. The thick, heavy, metal door at the end of the corridor was already ajar, and there was a dim greenish light that spilled from the adjoining area into the corridor. However, what was holding the door open was not a malfunctioning keypad, but rather a dead body.

“Yzak,” he whispered, indicating with his head for him to follow as he stepped out and cautiously approached the end of the corridor.

“One of the ten missing FAITHs,” he heard Yzak murmur as he kept his gun pointed into the entrance of the adjoining area as Yzak knelt down and turned the woman slightly over. He quickly glanced down and then back up; she was quite dead, considering that she had been shot cleanly through the throat.

“Did they find the same thing as us?” Korsakoff quietly asked as the others approached as soon as Yzak gave the signal to follow.

“Don't know,” Athrun stated as he stepped over the dead woman and entered the area. What greeted his eyes was a sense of astonishment and awe – far be it that the underground levels of the colony housed pipes and other inner workings that kept the colony functional. What was spread out before all of them in a ten-story drop below where they were standing on a concrete cliff edge was a seemingly endless field of softly glowing server racks.

“Wow,” he heard Dalton softly exclaim as the eight of them entered the area.

“This has to be where they keep all the first-generation profiles,” Alice whispered. “This is where our ancestors live...”

“Look sharp,” he immediately ordered, before gesturing to Yzak to take one end while he took the other end. Grabbing onto the nearest ladder that would take him down, he swung himself over and slid down the rails. Landing on the ground at the same time Yzak did, he saw him dash over towards a few columns away from where he was. It was quite cold in here, as he saw a brief, but tiny cloud form whenever he took a breath. Six soft landings came after them and even though they did not have enough people to spread out and cover the area, they stuck near the middle of the field.

Doubling up, for each column they traversed in, the eight of them began to slowly make their way through the server field. Apart from the hum of the servers, he could hear nothing of the sort as they slowly made their way down each column. However, none of them got very far when they encountered several other bodies. It was Korsakoff, who spotted the bodies first, adjacent and ahead of the column she and Lenore were traversing through.

Athrun immediately halted and glanced around, as he saw Dalton, who had been following him, do the same. He didn't like that they had to traverse through a field of meters high server towers, with no way to see beyond what they could see through the occasional end of a set of racks or down their column. They were pretty much sitting ducks--

_Bang_! _Bang_! _Bang_!

He didn't even get time to blink as he reached out and grabbed Dalton and shoved him away from the end of the column and into another, just as he brought his gun to bear and fire at the approaching enemy forces. He could barely see them, for they were dressed in dark fatigues that blended in with the dim lighting that the servers gave off. Still the two shots he had fired hit their mark well enough to drop the first two like sacks of potato.

“Go!” he roared. He was not going to let the eight of them be caught in the same killing field as the other ten FAITH members.

Firing off a few more shots, he then turn and ran in the direction they had been moving towards, hoping that it would take them to the core. He could see Dalton and the others flitting in and out of different columns, running as fast as they could down towards the end of the field. Bullets whizzed over and to the side of them, impacting racks and the like.

Pausing a few times to fire off a few shots of his own as he ducked behind columns, he saw some of the others do the same. Still, none of them lingered for long in one position as more and more enemy forces started to surge towards them. This certainly was the best place for an ambush. Even though it was full of electric wiring and the like, it seemed that the technopaths were only keen on trying to shoot them dead – not overload and send a shockwave of electricity that would not only kill all of them in one blow, but also destroy an entire generation of Coordinators.

He grimly smiled to himself as he rolled forward, just as his instincts screamed at him to do so. Several bullets impacted where his head used to be as he rolled up from his tumble, turned back, and coolly fired a couple of more shots. Ducking and sprinting down another column, the fact that the enemy forces were not utilizing the one thing their neural-linked chips gave them the advantage of, told them that they were definitely Coordinators--

Or not.

Athrun felt the prickling, strangest sensation crawl all over his body, underneath the flight suit and helmet he wore. Even before the feeling reached its apex, the buzzing sound of a thousand bees was already overwhelming even the noise of gunfire. That and the small bursts of electrical arcs leaping from rack to rack told him that his assumption was incorrect. Putting on a burst of speed, he ran as fast as he could, seeing the end of the field lead to a singular entrance.

Andrew and Lenore were already at that entrance, with Andrew already trying to input something into the terminal at the entrance to get the door open, and Lenore covering him via gunfire. He saw Dalton, along with Yzak join them moments later, turning around to fire at the enemy. Just as the apex of the noise was reached, Athrun, Dearka, Alice, and Korsakoff dashed out of the field.

The explosion ripped through the entire place. The last thing Athrun remembered seeing was the concrete walls rushing towards him before blackness overtook him.

* * *

_C.E. 74, Orb, Earth..._

 

“Will I be seeing you at dinner tonight, Cagalli?”

Cagalli looked up from where she had been staring ahead at mostly nothing, blinking slightly as she saw Yuuna looking at her with some concern. “Yes,” she said, nodding slightly as both of them entered through the main doors to the reception area to her office. “I'll be home at around nineteen hundred, Yuuna,” she continued, as her secretary, Leslie, stood up and handed her a stack of bound folders that were full of reports she needed to review before she could return home. Saying a quiet 'thank you' to her secretary, she then turned and looked up to see her husband with a slight frown on his face.

“These won't take long to review,” she said, trying to reassure him. “I will be home in time for dinner.”

A few moments later, she saw him reluctantly nod, saying, “Don't work too hard, Cagalli. I'll see you at seven.”

Whereas she knew that normal, married couples would have at least given each other a peck of affection or hug before departing, he did no such thing to her and merely turned around and left. It was not that their marriage was loveless – it was in her opinion – but that she was not fond of his displays of affection towards her. He had learned that quite quickly during their engagement. The only times he had disobeyed her wishes was whenever Athrun was around. She knew that it was an extremely petty game of jealousy that Yuuna had been playing, but it seemed that since Athrun had not been present for the past six months, he had halted those actions.

At the thought of Athrun, she felt her heart echo with an ache as the hollow feeling inside of her seemed to expand. Entering her office and closing the door, she went to her desk, dropped the briefcase next to her desk and placed the folders under another stack that she still had to complete. Sitting down, she placed her elbows on her desk and leaned her head into her hands. It had been ten days... ten agonizingly depressing days since that disastrous attempt to reconcile with Athrun. Ten days since she had lost him, and ten days since her brother had told her to give Athrun some space – to leave him alone for a while.

She had wanted to curl up on the couches in her office and cry for most of those days where she sat alone here, knowing that if she tried to call him or even message him again, she would drive him further away than he already was. But she couldn't do that – couldn't do what 'normal' people her age did when they broke up with their lover. She had a husband, even if their marriage was completely sexless and loveless. She had a country to lead, problems to solve, and could not stop and let her personal life over take her.

As her resolve started to build again, hardening into a clay wall that would only be broken again whenever her mind decided to think about Athrun again, she opened her eyes, finding that she had somehow managed to keep the tears from falling. Was she getting better at hold her emotions in check? Or was that dam she built within her heart getting stronger each time? She didn't know – only that it caused her to despair.

Reaching over to her left, she picked up the first report on the stack – something she had been in the midst of reading before she had to attend a Defense Committee meeting. As her eyes scanned the summary and picked up where she had left off, she began to fall deeply back into her work. Minutes, or perhaps hours – she didn't remember when exactly she had returned to her desk – later, a knock on the door startled her.

“It's just me, Leslie,” her secretary's muffled voice said through the door. “Ichirou has brought you your afternoon tea, Princess.”

“Please, enter,” she said, blinking as she looked up to see her butler come in with the usual tray containing a plate of sweets, along with a mug and teapot full of her favorite tea. Strangely though, Leslie entered after Ichirou, but as her butler was placing the items on the table in between the couches, her secretary was carrying a long, thin, white box, with a red ribbon wrapped around it. It also looked as if it had just come out of a refrigerator.

“Joseph told me to keep this in the refrigerator, since we didn't know when you'd be back. He said that a certain man had left it with him earlier in the day. It has been checked by security, and is safe,” her secretary said, handing her the cold box.

“Certain man?” she asked, curious.

Leslie's knowing smile was her answer, along with what looked like to be a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He bowed slightly in respect towards her and left at the same time her butler left. As soon as the door closed, she placed the box down carefully undid the ribbon and lifted the cover up. A deep, dark red, long-stemmed rose sat within the cushioned bed of the inside of the box. There was also a note tied near the middle of the stem.

Picking it slightly up the message read: 'Yes, I still love you'. It was hand written, but she recognized that handwriting from anywhere. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at the rose before taking another look at the message. Trying hard not to break down crying, not in sadness, but in happiness, she wiped the tears from her eyes as she choked out a half-laugh, half-sob of joy.

She didn't know how long she sat there, staring at the single rose and message, but it was the buzzing of her telephone that indicated that her secretary was calling her about official business. All the government lines, including her desk phone were recorded for security purposes, and to provide evidence for any type of trial if needed. Clearing her throat and wiping her eyes again – this time with the sleeves of her uniform, she picked up the line. “Yes?” she asked, hoping her voice was steady enough.

“Princess, I'm sorry to disturb your work, but the Budget Committee wanted to ensure that your trip to OMNI's Victoria Base in two days is supposed to last five days?” Leslie asked. “I've already forwarded them the generals and dignitaries meetings details, but they want a verbal confirmation. If you have a moment, I'm going to transfer the line to their recording services.”

“Do so,” she stated. As a series of beeps then transferred over from her secretary's phone to hers. Even though Leslie would remain on the line to ensure that only the Committee connected and that the questions asked were valid and would not make her leak details that others should not know about. As the call connected, and the questions began, she answered only as necessary. Soon afterwards, the services disconnected and both she and Leslie hung up their phones.

As she looked down at the rose again, a sudden thought crossed her mind. Getting up, she stepped around her desk and approached the door. Opening it, she peeked out and saw that the reception area was empty and that the guards looked slightly relaxed – there was no one down the hall long hall. “Leslie,” she said, stepping out just as her secretary looked up.

“Yes, Princess?” he asked.

“Is it possible to extend my trip out to Victoria by... oh, perhaps a day or two?” she asked. “I'd like to take a brief vacation after this meeting if possible, though definitely not at the base. Personal booking – none of the Budget Committee's involvement, of course.”

She saw him search through a few things on his computer's screen before looking back up with a smile saying, “It is possible, but only for two days maximum. Where would you like to go and will it just be you and...?”

“I'm not sure yet,” she said, her answer to both. “Let me make a quick call and get back to you on that.”

“As you wish, Princess,” he answered.

She slipped back into her office and crouched down at where she had put her briefcase. Taking out her personal cell phone, she flipped it open as she stood back up, and dialed a specific number. It had been ten days, even more the last time she had tried to call him, but that gift... the message... she hoped she was reading into it correctly.

“Hi,” his voice, full of the familiar warmth that she missed so much, greeted her.

“Hi,” she shyly answered, not knowing why she suddenly felt this way – as if she were a young prepubescent schoolgirl again with a huge crush on a handsome celebrity. “Thank you,” she managed to continue to say as a part of her mind berated herself for acting like a twelve-year-old again, “and I'm sorry... for everything.”

There was a brief moment of silence before she heard him say, “I'm sorry as well, but I forgive you. And, I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered as a smile worked its way up her lips as she leaned against her desk, trying hard not to cry in happiness again. “I'm going on a trip soon,” she said after finding some composure. “Do you want to come with me, Alex?”

“I'll always be by your side, no matter what,” she heard Athrun answer over the phone. “In sickness, and in health. Until death do us part.”

* * *

_C.E. 96, PLANT Colony: Aprilius 4_

 

Even though the Strategic and Tactical Action Room was quite noisy and full of Council members and several high-ranking ZAFT members who had returned to the PLANTs after their ordeal at Heliopolis II, Eileen Canaver barely paid them any heed. It had been several hours since she had sent her last two FAITH agents into Nyabrius 13, but nothing had been heard from them yet. Patrols that surrounded the PLANTs as soon as the nuclear detection signal had gone off at Nyabrius 13 were still reporting no sign of any threat that may have set off the signal.

She knew that it was a false signal, and though it gave her the excuse to send in the remaining FAITH members, there had to have been something to report already. Still, as she watched the reporting of the alert being carried by different media networks throughout the PLANTs, along with some Earth-based ones, the emergency com device that sat in front of her on the table did not ping yet.

Every PLANT news network was careful not to reveal the true nature of Nyabrius 13 in their mentioning of the colony, citing that it was merely a research colony that was important to furthering the education of its citizens. It wasn't an agreed upon lack of divulgence that united the media of the PLANTs, but rather the knowledge that if anyone else not Coordinator or a citizen of the PLANTs got wind of what exactly the colony was, then their existence as a whole was doomed. Solidarity to protect themselves and the people living here is what united them – one of the few times it would, she thought with a slight bitterness.

“Enormous power surge detected!” one of the ZAFT soldiers monitoring sensors pointed at the locked-down colony suddenly shouted.

It was much too late, though, to issue orders as Eileen's eyes widened in shock, her expression mirroring many others. Nyabrius 13 suddenly split apart into many compartments and segments – a byproduct of safeguards built within the colony immediately after Junius 7 had been destroyed. However, rather than the segments immediately jettisoning away in an effort to minimize damage from an actual attack on it, they instead, lazily drifted apart.

Not one of the segments was flying away. Worse yet, she saw that there were massive electrical arcs playing over a great many of those segments, shorting out not only the protection built into the segments, but also racks upon racks of server data that contained the lifeblood of the Coordinators. Something from within had destroyed their colony from the inside out, and now, her remaining seven FAITH agents were trapped somewhere in there – if they were still alive.

* * *

_PLANT Colony: Unknown Location_

 

The first thing Athrun felt as he swam from the depths of unconsciousness and vivid memories that he had forgotten, was that there was a throbbing pain pounding throughout his head. That told him that he was still alive, which he supposed was a good thing... except for the fact that as soon as he acknowledged that excruciatingly painful headache, the rest of his body's aches and pain seemed to catch up. He groaned, as he blearily blinked, the feeling of gravity, of his skin sweaty, hot, and prickly under his flight suit--

A just like that, his instincts kicked in as he immediately snapped open his eyes and rolled up. He hit something hard as he looked up from where he was lying, only to see that he was looking up at the underside of a mobile suit – an inactive phase-shift capable mobile suit. Despite his headache and the pain lancing throughout his body, he stood up, placing a hand out to the side of the leg of the mobile suit to brace himself.

Looking around as he tried to get his bearings, he saw that far be it he was in the smoldering remains of an enormous server chamber, but was now in a hangar bay. Even though the bay was dimly lit, he could see no other persons. Yzak, Lenore... none of them who had been with him at Nyabrius 13 were here. It was just him and an inactive mobile suit. Where was he?

“I'm glad that you've awoken, Athrun. I was beginning to worry that that explosion had placed you in a coma.”

Athrun turned around, his breath completely leaving him in utter shock as he heard and saw a woman emerge from the shadows of the hangar bay, wearing the red uniform of a ZAFT elite pilot. It was not the uniform that surprised him, but rather the appearance of the pilot – the woman looked exactly like his mother.

“M-mother?” he managed to say, wondering if he had actually died on Nyabrius 13 and this was the strangest place in the afterlife he could have gone to. But as that thought crossed his mind, a part of him rebelled against it – this woman who looked like his dead mother looked much too young to be her when she had died. If he had to place an age upon her, he estimated that she must have been a little younger than twenty-five.

“Yes,” she said, nodding.

He immediately scrambled back, hitting his too-overheated body against the leg of the mobile suit. “No,” he breathed out, shaking his head slightly. “It can't be...”

To his relief, she stopped where she was, and clasped her hands in front of her. “You are among the first two that we have infected, Athrun,” she calmly stated. “It is punishment for what you have done in associating with Naturals. If you repent and join us in this crusade against all who are unwilling to ascend to the next evolution of Humanity, we will cure you.”

“Infected?” he asked, wondering if what he was seeing was a hallucination of the fact that he did feel more feverish than usual. He had thought it was because he had been zapped with the electrical arcs in his dive towards safety at the server chamber on Nyabrius 13, that was why his body was working hard to cool him down.

“Do you remember your vow to the one you claimed to love? Until death do you and your lover part?” his 'mother' asked, before holding out an arm – a signal for someone else to join her.

Athrun didn't say a word, as he narrowed his eyes slightly, hearing soft footsteps approach from the shadows. The other person crossed the threshold into the light, but even as his eyes and heart immediately tried to deny and refuse to acknowledge the existence of the second person, his mind had already come to the conclusion of what exactly he was looking at.

“Cagalli,” he whispered, his voice breaking in the middle of her name as he saw the woman that he had loved, standing before him. She was not as he remembered her before she had been assassinated, but was a thirteen-year-old girl.

“She will stay with you until you give your answer, Athrun,” his 'mother' stated, as he saw Cagalli take a couple of steps forward. “You may touch her if you wish, hold her if you wish, but if I may impart this warning to you: she is patient zero. She is a carrier and she spreads the infection by touch. The more you hold on to her, the more rapid your own infection will become. As I said before, if you and your companion Yelena Korsakoff both repent, we will cure you.”

“Leave Korsakoff out of this--” he began, as the name of the former ZAFT operative managed to allow him to get a grip on reality. She was alive, but they were separated. Where were the rest of the team?

“It is much too late,” she stated. “Both of you were known to have closely associated with Naturals, and produce progeny from those associations. In a pure and blue world, we cannot have that kind of mixing.”

Athrun gaped at her – those words were something that he thought his mother would have never uttered when she had been alive. He remembered her as kind, loving, if not a bit stern at times, but almost always teaching him to be tolerant in an intolerant society. Her words now also chilled him to his bones – beyond what his fever was doing – these people, these technopaths, had been observing him for far longer than he realized. And as he thought about it – he realized where they would have assumed Korsakoff to have 'strayed' from the path as well.

OMNI mobile suit pilot, Inga Aurelia, was most likely Korsakoff's daughter – given that there seemed to be a resemblance of sorts between the two. He had never confirmed it, since it wasn't any of his business inquiring deeply and in an invasive manner about the parentage of his children's friends. Had these people deliberately tapped into Nyabrius 13 and set a trap for just him and Korsakoff?

It was arrogant to think such things, but he knew enough about Korsakoff's daughter, Inga, to know that Inga's father was William Aurelia, a member of the Eurasian Federation's Parliament. As for himself... well, Athrun knew and lived with his own notoriety for the past twenty-five years.

Kira was at L4, Lacus on Earth and in the Eurasian Federation. It had to be a trap for all of them – he was sure of it. But what was the point when either he, Kira, or Lacus could be killed easily at the moment? Most of Humanity thought they were dead. It would have been far more effective to even display their bodies as a warning to the allied forces that the technopaths were a new world order.

Unless... unless there was another threat to the technopaths, one that ran parallel to the gambit that he, Kira, and Lacus had been planning since Cagalli's death. One that Korsakoff, or any relation to her previous work as a ZAFT black operative in the Eurasian Federation, posed? It was a stretch... but considering the past, Athrun now found it convenient that Korsakoff had provided a lot of information that even he would not have found on his own during his hunt for Dr. Hadrian.

“If you kill Cagalli though, be warned, we will unleash your infected companion into the PLANTs,” his 'mother' stated after a moment.

Athrun managed to tear his eyes away from the calm, almost lifeless expression that young Cagalli carried, and looked towards his 'mother'. Painfully swallowing the lump in his throat and pushing away his shaken thoughts, he summoned as much courage as he could, asking, “What... what are you? Who created both of you?”

“You already know that answer, Athrun,” she answered. “You know what we are.”

“Clones,” he reluctantly stated. It was the only explanation he could come up with, even if he were not feverish and ill.

“As for who created us,” his 'mother' said, stepping to the side as the sounds of someone struggling was heard before he saw Korsakoff thrown to the ground, skidding to the stop near him. “You only have the Ultimate Coordinator and his failed byproduct of a brother to blame, for not destroying Mendel and the L4 cluster when they had the chance.”

 

~*~*~*~

 


	10. Chapter 9: The Signal

**Chapter 9: The Signal**

_C.E. 79, Orb, Earth..._

 

“Okay now, Mommy has to do some work before she can play with you again,” Cagalli said as she lifted one-year-old Cari off of her lap and handed the child to him.

Athrun adjusted his grip on his daughter, turning her around to face him, as he heard her gurgle and giggle at the same time. She mashed her face into his chest as he took her away and settled himself on the couch, opposite of where their son was busily but quietly playing with a colored cubed puzzle. Bouncing his daughter up and down on his knees for a moment, she gave him a gummy grin as she continued to giggle in delight.

He glanced up at the clock – there was still a half-hour until the lawyers were supposed to show up with the documents. Kira and Lacus were not here yet, but considering the grey skies that covered most of Orb, along with the wind that was forecasted, it would take the two a little longer than usual to fly here from their island. As baby Cari leaned against him again, yawning slightly, he smiled at her and looked over to see how her brother was doing on his puzzle.

His and Cagalli's son, Nicolai, was remarkably quiet for a child, even a toddler – content on either reading books on his own, or just playing with puzzles. Both he and Cagalli had heard the tales of parents staying up all night trying to comfort their child whenever the child woke up in the middle of the night, but Nicolai had done none of that. He was so quiet that they had thought something was wrong with him until Dr. Hadrian had told them that Nicolai was just quiet – there was absolutely nothing physically or mentally wrong with him.

Cari though... she was the complete opposite of her brother. Athrun had been the one who made sure that their daughter was constantly looked after whenever she cried. He'd rather lose sleep than let Cagalli do so – her duties required her to get as much rest as possible so that she would have a sharper mind to tackle issues as the leader of Orb. He remembered Cagalli off-handedly mentioning one morning after a particular rough night in which neither of them had gotten any sleep due to Cari's incessant crying, that Myrna had told her when she was older that she had been a fussy baby as well. Unfortunately, Myrna had passed away from natural causes in between the birth of Nicolai and Cari, and thus, they had no one to turn to, to figure out how to calm Cari down.

Fortunately, their daughter was being relatively quiet today, though Athrun thought that it was probably due to her being in a new environment – Cagalli's office and the governmental buildings in general. She had been staring all around, wide-eyed in wonder with the new surroundings and people that Cagalli had taken her to meet before returning to the office. He breathed in contentedly as he glanced over to see Cagalli hunched slightly over, reading over yet another document and making some notes on it.

“I'm sorry, sir, but you can't--”

Cagalli's primary secretary, Joseph, didn't even get to finish his words when Athrun had already swiftly put Cari down on the sofa, moved Nicolai next to her, stood up, and was half-way to the door to intercept the intruder, when the door to her office slammed open. He stopped short of completing his actions when he saw that the threat was only from Representative Seiran, who stalked in with a pinched and angry look on his face. Outside, Joseph had an apologetic look upon his face – he had tried his damnest to deter Seiran from entering, but had failed. The two guardsmen nearest to the office entrance had also stepped out of their niches.

“Yuuna! What is the meaning of this?!” Cagalli immediate stated, standing up, looking quite angry. “I thought I explicitly told you that the meeting is not starting for another half hour!”

Even before Seiran launched into his tirade, Athrun was already moving back to pick Cari up and take Nicolai by the hand. He led both of them out, just as Joseph hurried to close to the doors. Whatever Seiran had issues with that needed to be discussed before the meeting, he was not going to subject his children to it.

“Thank you, Joseph,” he gratefully said as he sat down on the couch across from the secretary's desk, letting his son's hand go so that Nicolai could climb up himself. Lenore still had wide eyes and was looking towards the door, but then leaned back into him, content on where she was currently being held against.

“I'm sorry, Alex,” Joseph said, continuing to look quite apologetic as he sat back down. The two guards had also retreated to where they had been standing.

“It's not your fault,” he answered, but didn't say anymore as he saw his son complete the colored cube puzzle and toothily grin at him.

“I done,” Nicolai stated, looking quite proud of himself. Before Athrun could stop him, he then hopped off the couch and tottered over to the guard closest to the secretary's desk. “I done!” he proudly declared to the guard.

The guardsman, a man by the name of Hikaru Barton, knelt down, making sure that his rifle was secured behind him before reaching out and taking the completed puzzle cube from Nicolai. Athrun watched as Barton affected a wondrous look before saying, “Wow. You finished this quite fast, Nicolai. Do you want another puzzle to solve?”

The boy's head bobbed up and down, though Athrun called out to him saying, “Nicolai, manners.”

“Yes, please,” his son immediately said.

Athrun caught Joseph's half-amused smile, but he was further distracted when he glanced down to see that Cari had fallen asleep – deep asleep it seemed. Sighing, he adjusted himself on the couch and leaned back a little further, watching his son and Barton. Barton had turned slightly around, reaching for something within one of the many pouches strapped around his uniform's waist belt and pulled out a strange, metallic, double-cylindrical item. The outer cylinder was a thick one that had the inner cylinder running up it as if it were a shaft. It looked more like an oversized lollipop than anything else. He saw the guardsman exchange puzzles with Nicolai before hearing his son chirp a 'thank you'. Running back, his son immediately climbed up and started to work on the strange puzzle.

“It's an internal maze,” he heard Barton state. “You solve it by touch and feel, triggering and avoiding traps within the maze, until you can get the inner cylinder out.”

“It would make a good lock deterrent for a burglar,” Joseph quipped.

“I was thinking of making something similar for my house,” Barton stated, “but even I haven't solved that particular puzzle yet. I'm hoping your son can, Mr. Dino.”

Athrun glanced over to see Nicolai looking quite intensely at the puzzle, spinning the outer cylinder and inner cylinder opposite ways before gently pulling down the inner cylinder, as if he were already seeing the maze within his head. “I guess we'll see,” he answered.

~~~

“Are you sure you don't want me to hold him?” Kira asked as the two of them were escorted by an Orb guardsman down the hall and to Cagalli's office.

Lacus smiled, and merely adjusted their son in her arms. Yuki's arms shifted a little, tightening slightly around his mother's neck in response, as if he didn't want to let go while still fast asleep. “I'm fine,” she answered, reassuring him.

As they rounded the final bend, the two guards outside of the reception area stood at attention as the guard who led them nodded to let them know that they were expected. The guards opened the door and their escort stopped just outside of the reception area. They entered, and even before the door closed behind them, Kira saw the most amusing yet adorable scene before him. Leaning back on the couch with baby Cari sleeping peacefully on him, with his eyes closed as if he were asleep himself, was Athrun. Kira couldn't help but silently laugh at the scene and pulled out his cell phone. Taking a quick picture as he glanced over to see Lacus with an equally amused smile, he managed to put the phone away as he saw that his best friend stir slightly.

“That better not have been you taking that picture, Kira,” Athrun said as he saw him blink and open his eyes, looking slightly annoyed.

“Nope,” he answered, trying hard to hide his smile.

“You'll appreciate the picture later, Alex,” Lacus gently teased, sitting down on the couch, in between where it seemed Nicolai was busy with a rather interesting-looking puzzle, and Athrun who shifted to sit a little more upright.

“Joseph,” he greeted Cagalli's secretary, as the man stood up.

After they had shaken hands, Joseph said, “I apologize, but the Princess is currently attending to personal matters with Representative Seiran. I'd rather not bother her at the moment, but if it is anything urgent...”

“It's all right,” he said, though it did not escape his notice that the secretary's face fell ever so slightly when he silently nodded.

It would certainly explain why Athrun and the children were waiting out here instead of waiting in Cagalli's office until the lawyers arrived. Still, he could pull the official business card and ask Joseph to buzz them in, but he did not want to be more involved with the frankly messy situation between Cagalli, Seiran, and Athrun. It was already enough that Seiran, Joseph, and the guards would find out that he was Cagalli's twin brother today – he was only agreeing to this meeting because he wanted to make sure that the lines were drawn in the proverbial sand when it came to family and how Seiran stood in that 'family'.

It was difficult to think about the fact that after that near-harrowing assassination attempt on Cagalli's life at Victoria Base several years ago, there was a real need to ensure that should Athrun and Cagalli die before their children came of age, the children would be taken care of. Custody would have normally fallen to Seiran, but since he was at risk as well, Kira and Lacus would be the most suited to take care of the children. Cagalli had told Kira a few days ago that Seiran was also going to be confirmed as Orb's immediate heir, should anything happen to her. Nicolai and Cari – because they took after Athrun more than Cagalli and were born out of technical wedlock, could not be confirmed as immediate heirs.

The same had been done for Cagalli when she had been adopted by her father all those years ago – she had never been confirmed as immediate heir in the event of her father's death. However, due to circumstances which claimed the lives of most of Orb's Representatives, emergency measures had been passed and she had been thrust into power. She had the support of the people to thank as well for remaining in power for as long as she had thus far. Kira had heard that most immediate heirs did not remain in power for more than a year once activated. The battle to control Orb at its highest seemed to be a difficult political fight, and he was immensely glad and sad at the same time that Cagalli had kept him out of it. How his sister lived this life day in and day out was something that he knew that he could never understand.

Fortunately, none of them had to wait long as the two lawyers finally arrived. Greetings were given around, though baby Cari fussed slightly from being woken up from her nap as her father stood up and adjusted his hold on her. Kira made sure to take Nicolai by a hand as Cagalli's secretary buzzed them into the Office of the Chief Representative of Orb.

* * *

_C.E. 96, Eurasian Federation, Earth..._

 

“I'm sure they're all right.”

Lacus looked up as she drew a strand of the pink-colored wig she wore, away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She smiled as she saw that Andrew Bartfeld was looking much more hale than he had been in the past day. A heavy amount of bandages were still wrapped around him, but it heartened her to see that he was able to stand up and move enough to stand out here with her on the deck of the _Archangel_. The other crew members were not as lucky as their captain – most of them were still bedridden.

“Your husband and Zala, they're tough,” he continued as the squawking of the gulls and the cool, gentle wind blowing continued to fill the relative silence. The speck of the enormous port capitol of the Eurasian Federation, nestled within the Gulf of Finland, was starting to become larger. “They've been through more than anyone should go through in their lives, and survived thus far. They'll be all right.”

She silently nodded as she felt his reassuring hand upon her shoulder. Out of her entire crew, Bartfeld was the only one to always correctly guess what was on her mind at the time. She had not wanted to further worry Yuki or Nicolai, the only other two besides Bartfeld, Kira, and Athrun, who could easily read her. Thus she had come up here to let the natural world of Earth try to calm her thoughts. “We should return inside before you catch a chill, Captain Bartfeld,” she said after a moment.

“As you wish, Ms. Clyne,” he answered.

As they returned and descended to the main areas of the ship, Bartfeld returned to the infirmary for a checkup. He and the others of the _Eternal_ would not be accompanying her in her meeting with the Prime Minister. She had patiently listened to his and even DaCosta's protests, but had reassured them that there were at least two former members of Orb's vaunted guardsmen that would be accompanying her. Though she was not as familiar as Athrun was with the guardsmen, she distinctly remembered Hikaru Barton and Patricia Ling being the two guardsmen she saw the most whenever she had visited the Office of the Chief Representative.

She had not known it until Athrun told her after the third attempt on Cagalli's life, but Barton and Ling were the best of the guardsmen, and thus they were kept as close to Cagalli's office as possible. They had also traveled with her on most of her Earth-based trips. Though it seemed after Cagalli's death, both had retired from their duties and found a new calling on the _Archangel_ as mobile armor pilots.

“Mom!”

She looked up as she walked down the hall to see her son rushing up to her, carrying something that looked like an elegant, velvet blue cloak. Where he had gotten the material to make such a cloak puzzled her, but clearly there was intention within his stance and eyes that he wanted her to have it.

“Yuki,” she greeted, smiling as he skidded to a stop before her. To her slight dismay, she saw that he had a sidearm strapped to the belt on his waist. However, she didn't let it show on her face. She had hoped that her son would never have to pick up a firearm to defend himself or anyone else, and had been glad that he had chosen a more academic, civilian route in life. Now though, with a shadow war about to explode into the forefront...

“Here,” he breathlessly said, holding out the cloak. “I thought Nicolai wasn't going to complete it in time, but he managed to. Captain Ramius got a transmission from the port. They're sending a Parliament member with the delegation for initial greetings. You'll need this to help hide your face and make sure that no one knows you're alive, if you want to listen in.”

“Why thank you,” she answered, taking the cloak from him, “but where did Nicolai get this material?”

“Ha, funny thing about that,” her son answered, scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. “So it was Captain Ramius who foisted it on us. The Junk Guild owed her for something, so they left a 'care package' for her in return. In it was this bolt of cloth as well.”

“It is lovely, Yuki,” she said, drawing the cloak around her and clasping it close before carefully drawing the hood around her wig and head. “Is Nicolai around? I would like to thank him before we fully dock.”

“Yeah sure, he's in the bay, working on encrypting _Vanguard_ , just in case some of the Federation members get a little too curious. I mean, Captain Ramius did tell us that the last time the _Archangel_ entered Eurasian Federation's space, it had been during the war and the results had been... not good.”

Lacus nodded but did not say a word. She knew what her son was referring to – the disastrous destruction of the Artemis fortress at L3. All she knew about that was that the _Archangel_ had sought shelter at Artemis and that ZAFT had pursued them there. She had not asked either Kira or Athrun about that, preferring to let those more painful months of their lives fade into the past and heal wounds.

When the two of them entered the bay, it seemed that the _Archangel_ was beginning final docking maneuvers as many of the crew members were scrambling to present a semblance of an organized parade at arms on the hangar bay of the ship. Some had thick jackets on, while others wore wore cloaks similar to hers. Being that they were mainly based in Orb or in Heliopolis II, not many of the crew members had clothing for this type of cold, northern Earth weather. She could only assume that the Junk Guild had provided some warmer outerwear for them.

Lacus and Yuki joined them, though the two of them, along with Nicolai, stayed near the back. Arrayed in front of her were the father-son Barton pair, along with Ling. Standing all the way in the front were most of the command deck crew of the _Archangel_ , including Captain Ramius. Next to her were the two OMNI pilots, Inga Aurelia and Keiko Sakamoto, standing as tall and as proud as they could be.

Ever since Murrue had mentioned Sakamoto's tenuous connection to the _Archangel_ , Lacus had a feeling that the OMNI pilot was more than she seemed. However, even as well-versed with the Eurasian Federation's politics as she was, given that her son's girlfriend's father was a Parliament member, she wasn't sure what other significance Sakamoto had within the Federation's borders. Sakamoto's aunt, Natarle Badguriel, had been OMNI, as was she, but other than familial connection within the military, the Sakamoto name was not common in the Federation. It was, however, a common surname within a formerly politically active East Asian Republic clan who had lost power on Earth over fifty years ago.

A few minutes later, the hiss of the _Archangel_ 's hangar hatch opened, letting light, along with the cold air of the Baltic region in. As their eyes adjusted to the brightness, the footsteps of the delegation approaching were heard. Yet to their surprise, two Parliament members and several guards accompanying them entered the bay. Murrue called the crew to attention, and the two OMNI soldiers saluted as well. Of the entire crew, only she along with Yuki and Nicolai were the only ones who didn't snap to – and to the two's credit, Yuki and Nicolai did not try to emulate the rest of the crew.

“Welcome to Petersburg,” the female Parliament member greeted as she acknowledged the show of respect. “I am Elise Richelieu.” She gestured to the man standing beside her, saying, “This is William Aurelia. We bring greetings from Prime Minister Stephanolopos and his thanks for bringing two of our nation's daughters home safely. He has also mentioned that he is open to an audience with the crew of the legendary _Archangel_. Should you choose to, I would be willing to escort you to meet him while Mr. Aurelia will bring our pilots in for a debrief with officers.”

She saw Murrue step forward after Richelieu had completed her formal speech, saying, “We thank you for your generosity and graciousness. If you would allow myself and three others of my crew to accompany you?”

“Certainly,” Richelieu answered, nodding, though Lacus saw a slightly hesitant look appear on her face for a brief moment before it disappeared. “Though I must say that as a precaution: might I ask that if you have any crew members who are Coordinators, if they would please refrain from going with you or departing the ship. The citizens of Petersburg are tolerant of Coordinators up to an extent. We would not like to cause any unnecessary diplomatic incidents with Orb--”

“Cut the crap, Richelieu,” the OMNI pilot, Keiko Sakamoto suddenly interrupted her. Lacus frowned in concern as she saw her suddenly step out of the line. “We know that Blue Cosmos specifically sent you with this delegation as a spy. Go back to them and tell them that the moment I stepped onto this ship, every single person on this ship, whether it be Coordinator or Natural is under my protection, and will continue to be so long as I draw breath.”

“How dare you!” Richelieu stated, but suddenly fell silent as the guards behind her suddenly surrounded her. Wordlessly, the woman was then rather unceremoniously escorted off the ship by the guards, leaving the other Parliament member alone.

A blanket of uncomfortable silence and puzzlement fell over the crew of the _Archangel_ before Lacus saw Parliament member, William Aurelia, cough into his hand, saying, “Perhaps we should proceed, Lady Sakamoto? The Prime Minister is waiting.”

“Yes,” Sakamoto answered, before turning towards Murrue, saying, “I apologize for the deception, Captain, to you and your crew. I am Keiko Badguriel Sakamoto-Stephanopolos. My father, Rian Stephanopolos, currently serves as Prime Minister and chief diplomat of the Federation. I asked him to place the crew under diplomatic immunity to prevent more extremist forces from interfering.”

“And I apologize for Ms. Richelieu's interference, Lady Sakamoto,” Aurelia chimed in. “I had thought she had come under your father's orders. I meant not to force you to out yourself.”

“What is done, is done, Mr. Aurelia,” Sakamoto answered before gesturing to Murrue, saying, “if you would please, Captain. I believe that we have much to discuss with my father with regards to what has been found?”

“Lady Sakamoto,” Lacus spoke up, stepping forward and drawing her hood back so that Parliament member William Aurelia clearly saw her. Behind her, she could hear the slight commotion that had broken out, but did not glance back to see what was happening. “If I may accompany you and Captain Ramius? I believe that your father, the Prime Minister, would benefit hearing this straight from myself.”

“Ms. Clyne!” Aurelia stated in surprise. “You're... alive!”

“That is acceptable, Ms. Clyne,” Sakamoto stated at the same time.

“Barton! Ling!” Murrue barked before the Parliament member could say another word. “Please escort and guard Ms. Clyne.”

“Ma'am,” the two former Orb guardsmen answered crisply as Lacus turned around slightly to see them unhand Yuki and Nicolai, who had been stopped by the two from following her. The younger Barton, the son of the mobile armor pilot, remained behind, taking up the spot his father had vacated.

“Ensign Aurelia,” Sakamoto stated, “your insight into recent events, especially that of your time jump into the past is requested as well.”

“As you wish,” Lacus heard the young woman answer and saw her step out of the ranks. Judging by the way she walked, carried herself, and her facial appearance, it seemed that she was not surprised by Sakamoto's status as the rest of them. She could only surmise that Murrue and Inga must have already known about Sakamoto's true family ties and kept her secret.

Lacus drew up her hood again as the seven of them descended from the ship. They were met by the remaining guards who had not taken the other Parliament member away and escorted to the waiting cars. The drive from the docks to the main building where Lacus could only guess at its purpose was not long, but neither was it short. The building was tall, Greco-Roman in style that included the columns that stood proudly at its entrance, and seemingly built for more ancient times. It was a magnificent piece of architecture that seemed to fit such a nation that had started out an an alliance of smaller nations well before the birth of Coordinators and the migration to space.

“Your father had been meeting with a few dignitaries and members of the Transportation Subcommittee,” Aurelia stated as they got out of the cars, with guards surrounding them.

Lacus saw a few gawking passerbys, but the Federation's Parliamentary guards were fanned out enough to prevent any random persons from approaching them. Still, she tugged her hood up a little further as she saw Barton take the lead and escort her. It had been such a long time since she had to worry about being attacked, and she was grateful that the two former guardsmen were accompanying her.

As they entered the building though, she was not the only one who immediately sensed that something was amiss. Even with Sakamoto and Aurelia leading them through the bypass of guards at the main checkpoint, there seemed to be an air of fear and worry. She saw Sakamoto look worriedly at Aurelia as the Parliament member pulled out a com device and quietly spoke into it. Something soft and tinny answered the question that Aurelia had asked.

“One of the colonies on the PLANTs triggered a lock down warning a few hours ago,” Aurelia stated. “I apologize, but I will escort all of you to the gallery for now. I must attend the floor.”

“Which colony, father?” Inga asked as the man led them to a stairwell and up another floor.

“Nyabrius 13,” Aurelia answered.

Lacus caught Murrue's startled glance over at her. The colony had gone silent, but how on earth did it go from being silent to triggering a complete lock down? Had Athrun and the others managed to find something that the enemy did not want them to find?

Aurelia opened a nondescript door and gestured for them to go in. There were a few other civilians sitting in the gallery, watching the noisy, debating session below. Rather than leave them at once to attend to the session on the floor, Lacus saw the man peer over. He was assessing who exactly was there, and Lacus saw that Stephanopolos was at the center of the aisle, deep in discussion with three other members at his table.

There was a screen near the back of the room, broadcasting what Lacus hoped was a live feed of what was going on at the PLANTs. She could see many mobile suits floating around the colonies. Ships of all sizes were gathered around, arrayed in different directions, as if ready to attack at the blink of a motion that did not belong to their forces. It was then that she realized that the lock down was not just a lock down, but a radioactive lock down – a built-in precaution that all colonies had been upgraded with right after Junius 7 had been destroyed. The entirety of ZAFT was ready to attack anything that would threaten their homes.

“Damn, where is Gregorie?” she caught the mutter of Aurelia's question, before a sudden murmur from the floor caught their attention again.

However, Lacus didn't hear such a murmur as a whine silenced everything around her. She only saw and heard the echoes of imagined screams in her ears as the live footage of of the PLANTs showed Nyabrius 13 suddenly breaking apart into pieces from within. Massive electrical arcs danced across the pieces--

“For a pure and blue world!”

She was snapped out of her fugue as she was suddenly seized by Ling and tumbled to the ground. The sounds of the Parliament came rushing back to her as she heard shouts and gunfire being exchanged. The echoes of the Blue Cosmos' motto punctuated the air as glass shattered around her. With Ling covering her, she saw Barton and a few others positioning himself behind a flipped table and exchange fire with people trying to charge in. Parliament guards who had accompanied them then rushed to the door, blocking it with various pieces of furniture.

“This way!”

Lacus was immediately pulled up by Ling and ducked slightly as she was ushered out by her two guards, with Murrue following closely behind her. With Inga and her father taking the lead to get out before Blue Cosmos could close ranks in the building, along with Sakamoto and two of her guards taking up the rear, they managed to slip into a secret passage of sorts in the chaos. She didn't dare look back as they hurried through the cramped tunnels, hoping that Prime Minister Stephanopolos had gotten to safety as well.

She didn't know how long they had been in the tunnels for, but even half-running, half-walking in more dangerously slippery areas of the tunnels, they still didn't stop. Every twist and turn, gradient hill upwards or further down was a step further away from Blue Cosmos. No one suggested pulling out a radio of sorts to contact the _Archangel_ – and she trusted the others to do so when they determined that it was clear. The same faith that she had placed in Captain Bartfeld and the others of the Resistance so many years ago during the war, was the same she placed now in those who surrounded her and the heir apparent to the Eurasian Federation's throne.

Finally, after traveling long enough through the maze of underground tunnels that must have been built centuries before mankind began to emigrate into space, they finally emerged to the surface. That time had also given her a chance to process a little of the grief, along with her shock at seeing Nyabrius 13 being destroyed. She knew that she could not let her sorrow linger on the destruction of the colony, not with what was happening.

As she stepped out of what looked to be an underground bunker and into the crisp, cold air of a mountain covered in snow, she looked around. They were deep in the heart of the mountains – and wherever she looked, the snow-capped tops and dark grey-blue hued slopes greeted her vision.

“My father--” Sakamoto began.

“Your father is safe,” Aurelia stated. “The other Janissaries have their orders. Blue Cosmos will not kill him. I had orders to get you out to the relay.”

“Goddammit,” Sakamoto muttered but did not say another word and stalked ahead.

Lacus silently watched the exchange, but did not ask where they were or what that clearly coded exchange was about. She saw Aurelia gesture for them to continue to follow him before pointing out another bunker of sorts that was nestled deep within the face of a mountain. It was almost invisible to their eyes, and it was only because the outer face of it was colored in the same scheme that the mountains and snow surrounding it were colored. Slowly, the group trudged through knee-deep snow to get to the area, and when they finally entered, it was to a silent, empty bunker.

Aurelia and the two soldiers went further down the hall, switching on various areas that started to light up the place. Lacus and the others silently followed them into what looked to be a tactical planning room. Arraying themselves around the table, she saw Sakamoto lean forward slightly and look up at her, saying, “I suppose that an explanation is in order?”

“Uh, fuck yes,” Inga demanded, before realizing that her words were quite rude and belatedly tacked on a , “ma'am. Sorry.”

Lacus silently nodded in assent, for it had not escaped her notice that not only was Inga looking quite incensed at her father, but also towards the woman she had trusted as a teammate.

“Blue Cosmos,” Sakamoto began, standing up straight, “was never eradicated as a whole after the war. It was impossible to do so. They were weakened considerably in power with the death of Murata Azrael, but they waited. They found ways to infiltrate the highest levels of government, not only within the Eurasian Federation, but also in almost all other countries on Earth. Orb was the one place that they could never establish a hold, and it was not only due to former Chief Representative Attha's influence, but also that of her husband, Yuuna Roma Seiran.”

“I know that not all of your friends and family members have a high opinion of Chief Representative Seiran, Ms. Clyne,” Sakamoto continued after a moment's pause. “But right now, your adopted homeland is the only place that is free from extremist influence. It is also the only country with enough influence to keep Blue Cosmos at bay by indirect pressure on OMNI within the Alliance. The _Archangel_ is safe, so long as she stays at the port. They know that the ship is Orb and Alliance. They know what the consequences are for attacking it, even though they want revenge on it for the killing of the _Dominion_ and Azrael. They will not touch it because my father would have sent his elite forces to protect it, and let the public know of what happened on the command deck of the _Dominion_ during the war.”

“But how?” Murrue asked.

“Certain elements loyal to the Eurasian Federation recovered its blackbox after the war. We found out the truth and therefore, decided to not pursue charges against the crew of the _Archangel_ during the tribunal,” Sakamoto stated. “My aunt... she died, making sure that Azrael died with her. It is you, Captain Ramius, that my family has to thank, for giving us twenty-five years of peace, rather than a civil war on Earth that would have torn the planet apart.”

Lacus saw Murrue nod silently to the young woman's words, but did not say anything else. She took that opportunity to step up, saying, “Then would it be prudent for us to establish contact with the _Archangel_ and warn them not to leave the port?”

“Yes,” Sakamoto agreed, as Aurelia began to type a few things on a projected keyboard. “Given the recent events, I'm sure word would have reached them by now of Nyabrius 13's destruction. But, considering that even as remote of an area this bunker has been established in, Blue Cosmos will eventually track us down--”

“Wait, you're not saying that the 'technopaths'--” Inga began.

“They are not Blue Cosmos,” Sakamoto answered. “But they have infiltrated them as well. This 'rebellion' that they have instigated is an overall distraction for these 'technopaths' true purpose.” She gestured to both her and Murrue, saying, “When you told us of the space-to-ground stations, that was when I started suspecting that these 'technopaths' had also infiltrated the extremist group. My father and I had always had code words spoken to pass along to each other, and he tasked his best person for the job, codenamed: Tristram.”

Sakamoto then gestured to Aurelia saying, “Mr. Aurelia is Tristram, current Eurasian Federation Special Forces Operative and Parliament member. He is also one of the few remaining Janissaries who served along side my father during the war. I am also a member of the Janissaries, though back then, I was much too young to fight. My call sign is Galeas.”

The pilot of the _Albion_ then returned her attention to Murrue, asking, “With your permission, Captain Ramius, I would like to use the IFF system that _Vanguard_ possesses to direct troops towards the ground stations. Our goal is to take control of them, disrupt whatever hold these 'technopaths' have on them, and eventually, establish a containment perimeter around Blue Cosmos before their 'rebellion' can spread.”

“What about Nyabrius 13? Won't that just continue to galvanize Blue Cosmos?” Inga asked. “You know that we sent Captain Joule and the others to there! We need to help them! We need to free the _Archangel_ from its berth and get back into space!”

Lacus could see that Inga was trying her best to keep herself together, considering the revelation of what exactly her father was. Lacus had heard of the legendary Eurasian Federation Janissaries in passing, but like most others, thought that the group had been disbanded just after Coordinators from all over the world began to leave the Earth and migrate up to the PLANTs. It had been Athrun, who told her long ago when they had first become engaged, that ZAFT's training regimen had been modeled after the Federation's Janissaries.

“We will not be able to, until we can contain the war here, Inga,” she spoke up, marveling at just how calm she remained, even after seeing the colony break up and knowing that Athrun and the others had potentially failed in their mission.

“Communications established, ma'am,” Aurelia stated, picking up two headsets and handing one over to Murrue and the other to Sakamoto. However, instead of taking it, Lacus saw Sakamoto gesture for her to take it.

Reaching over, she took it and placed it on. She heard Murrue say into the head set, “ _Archangel_ , this is Captain Ramius, report.”

“Uh, Captain, we got Eurasian troops out here fighting against each other!” an officer answered. “Orders?”

“Do not, I repeat, do not break from the port or send any mobile suits or fighters away from the ship,” she heard her answer, as she looked up to see that Murrue was looking over at Sakamoto and Aurelia. Both were nodding in agreement to her words. “You may render medical aid, but under no circumstances are you to become militarily involved with what is going on out there.”

“Yes, ma'am,” the officer answered. Silence fell over the line before the officer came back on, saying, “ _Vanguard_ has requested to go sortie, even after we've relayed your orders—”

“Put me through to the pilots,” Murrue answered.

There was a crackle over the channel before the curt tone of Nicolai answered, “Let us sortie, Captain. We have battle data--”

“That _we_ need,” the captain interrupted. Lacus saw a series of numbers appear on their side of the tactical table – connection lines to establish the IFF data between _Vanguard_ and the bunker. “Blue Cosmos has been infiltrated by these technopaths. If we do not sever the connection between the ground and space, then--”

“More than those at Nyabrius 13 will be lost,” came the quiet, solemn tone of Yuki. “We...understand, Captain, and will comply with your order.”

Another message appeared in front of the two of them and as Lacus read it, she immediately placed a hand on Murrue's arm, indicating to let her talk. “Yuki. Nicolai,” she spoke into the line. “They're still alive. Do not lose hope. They're still alive.”

Silence answered her words, but she did not expect either of them to answer her. Murrue took control of the line again, issuing several orders to her crew and to the pilots of _Vanguard_. Soon, the tactical board was filled with the real-time battle data being transferred from _Vanguard_. The channel was also closed, with the promise for updates to come.

The mountainous region where they were was not shown just yet, but every single blip that registered as a blue for OMNI-Eurasian Federation force, and white for Blue Cosmos-technopath force, was numerous. Before either Sakamoto or Aurelia could begin issuing orders, Murrue asked, “Why? What does this message mean? Who sent it? Are there survivors at Nyabrius 13?”

Lacus saw that she was gesturing to the message that was sent to them: [ _SOS 6+7. Confirmed alive._ ]

Even thought she had no idea what exactly the message meant or who it had come from, she was able to put together enough to establish that the seven FAITH members that Canaver had sent in were still alive. She, along with Murrue and the others of the _Archangel_ , were also at the mercy of the Federation, especially since it was Sakamoto, Aurelia, and the two guards with them who had gotten all of them out of harm's way.

“That message is from another Janissary,” Aurelia answered, “who fought as a mercenary during the war. Codenamed: Myrdin, that message was sent through an encrypted Artemis fortress channel, running parallel to the technopaths hijacked ones. Myrdin is currently at L4 and received an SOS from another Janissary, Iseult, at Nyabrius 13. Given the interference to the ground stations here, Iseult must have sent Myrdin the SOS. Myrdin is the only one who would know the Artemis channel.”

“Wait... Iseult,” Barton spoke up, stepping forward as Lacus saw him scan the tactical map before narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at both Aurelia and Sakamoto. “No one except for Coordinators are allowed in Nyabrius 13. If both of you are Janissaries, then there's also only one Coordinator that I know of who had the comparable training, served in the Eurasian region, and fought against Blue Cosmos during the war, Mr. Aurelia. Yelena Korsakoff is the Janissary known as Iseult, isn't she?”

“Yes, she is,” Aurelia answered, nodding, before looking over towards Inga, saying, “I'm sorry, Inga, for not telling you before. Prime Minister Stephanopolos and I thought that the Janissaries would never have to be reactivated again. Your mother certainly was not supposed to be reactivated, even though her status within our ranks was similar to Commander Zala's status as a ZAFT Special Forces member. Unfortunately, after the assassination of Chief Representative Attha, the Prime Minister and I thought it prudent to at least put your mother on alert.”

“You knew something like this was going to happen?” Inga asked, appalled. Lacus moved over to place a comforting hand over the young woman's hand. She could only begin to guess how hurt Inga was at just how many secrets her parents, William Aurelia and Yelena Korsakoff, had kept from her – along with just how much bending of the truth they had told her when she was growing up. All just to keep her safe. It was too similar to what Cagalli and Athrun had done with their children, even though both of them, along with she and Kira knew that it was for the better.

“No,” Sakamoto answered, shaking her head. “We never suspected that the technopaths would rise up. We only found evidence of Blue Cosmos taking a sudden and unexpected interest in genetic manipulation – specifically, the creation of a possible Coordinator-only illness. It was Myrdin who first alerted us to it shortly after the war, after he had returned from searching for something at L4. We didn't expect them to gather an enormous army – we thought they were going to attack via global pandemic. The confirmation by Captain Joule of Nyabrius 13's silence spurred us into action, and it seemed that the destruction of the technopath's forces at Heliopolis II spurred the enemy as well.”

“So they're on their 'Plan B'? Silence Nyabrius 13, launch a global civil war using Blue Cosmos, and then what?” Murrue asked, though it sounded more like a rhetorical question than anything else.

Silence answered her question. Lacus knew there were pressing matters to attend to, since it looked like the Blue Cosmos-technopath forces were moving southwards – away from the main cities and towards the mountainous regions. The longer they held an established line with _Vanguard_ , the more easily the enemy would be able to pinpoint them. But there was also the advantage they derived from it – it seemed that the space-to-ground stations that Aurelia had marked on the map was slowly being emptied of Blue Cosmos soldiers who were headed towards them.

“This SOS,” she spoke up. “Chairwoman Canaver would have sent all FAITH members in to reestablish contact at the colony.”

“Last I heard from Yelena was that she was working with the seven of them,” Aurelia said nodding. “Given the message, she could be separated from six of them, and only established contact with one of them when Nyabrius 13 broke up. But the SOS indicates that perhaps the bulk of the remaining technopath forces are at the PLANTs.”

“Then we divert them here to Earth?” Murrue asked.

“No,” he answered, pulling up something else and sent it to them. “There was a second message delivered with the first. Myrdin is requesting that we divert all enemy forces to his position.”

The second message that she and Murrue saw stated: [ _Send the androids to my position._ ]

“But how?” Murrue asked, looking up in puzzlement as Lacus frowned in worry.

Kira was at L4, and had been incredibly secretive, even more so than she had ever seen him be, at just who the other person accompanying him was. Did Kira know of this apparent monitoring by the Eurasian Federation? She thought not, considering just how preoccupied he had been trying to solve the technopath problem through another route. She could only assume that Kira knew who Myrdin truly was, but most likely did not know of this codenamed person's association with these hidden members of the Eurasian Federation's secret forces. FAITH members, even these Janissaries all worked in the shadows, and given the public nature of hers and Kira's lives, she was confident that her husband remained unaware of just how much the shadows moved.

But could she tell those here that Kira was at L4? She certainly did not want to reveal Kira's status as a survivor of a horrific experiment from long ago. But given what happened at Nyabrius 13, plus what one of the Janissaries had discovered at L4 long ago... would the truth of the Ultimate Coordinator Project, or Mendel Project, finally be shoved into the light? She didn't know, but regardless, she wanted them to take precautions. None of them knew the actual status of those at Nyabrius 13, even with an SOS sent.

“Kira,” she began, wringing her hands together for a moment and looked down at the message before looking back up. “Kira is currently at L4. Given the circumstances, I believe that he's working with this person you call Myrdin.”

“I know,” Aurelia said, folding his hands together. “Out of respect for Myrdin, I didn't mention it to you because he initially requested me not to. Your husband, Ms. Clyne, contacted him to let him know of the L4 situation. I do not know of the history behind their knowledge or what went on in L4, but the fact that your husband specifically contacted him concerning that cluster had me afraid. During the war, I would never send enemy forces into Myrdin's position unless absolutely necessary – he was our 'ace in the hole' if you want to call it that. The fact that he is deliberately requesting that we divert the technopath attention to L4 tells me that he's found something.”

“Important enough to risk both his and Mr. Yamato's lives?” Inga asked, folding her arms across her chest. “Mr. Yamato is only piloting _Strike_. That's not a nuclear-powered Gundam, father. That is a twenty-five-year-old mobile suit – older than what these 'technopaths' are piloting!”

“Myrdin pilots _Hyperion_ ,” her father simply answered.

“ _Hyperion_...” Lacus heard Inga whisper in awe and fear after a moment, gaping slightly at her father. “Haumea's blessings... during the war... that's...”

“Divert the enemy forces to L4, Mr. Aurelia,” Lacus quietly said after a moment. She needed no explanation about the mobile suit mentioned to understand that it had been significant to the Federation during the war. Whatever the mobile suit had done, it had established itself and its pilot as clear warriors capable of defending themselves. “Let us save those we can at Nyabrius 13.”

Aurelia nodded before saying, “Sakamoto, begin coordination of forces to take down that space-to-ground station. Once they breach and secure the facility, have them stand by for any transmission that Myrdin will send through the Artemis channel. I, and the rest of the guards will be establishing a perimeter around here in preparation for Blue Cosmos and their technopath infiltrators' invasion.”

“Understood,” Sakamoto answered, as Aurelia stepped back and picked up his rifle again. Lacus nodded to her two guards to follow the man. She caught Murrue's worried look at her but the captain did not say another word and left with the others.

“Ms. Clyne,” Inga said, as Lacus felt her slip her hand into hers and briefly squeezed it in reassurance, much like what she had done earlier to her. “For what it is worth, I am truly sorry for this.”

“Thank you,” she said, before the young woman departed, following the others out to begin setting up defensive positions.

It was only her and Sakamoto left in the room, and as she looked at the tactical map, she saw that the white dots of the 'technopath' enemy forces had finally locked onto their position within the mountains. They would be here within the hour at most. She just hoped that they would be able to survive long enough to establish contact with L4, transmit what Kira and the codenamed Janissary, Myrdin, had found, and draw away enough of the enemy forces from the PLANTs to give Athrun and the others a fighting chance.

Otherwise...

 

~*~*~*~

 


	11. Chapter 10: To Save the Future

**Chapter 10: To Save the Future**

_C.E. 96, L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

Kira slid into cover just in the nick of time as he looked up and saw the tiny sparks of bullets impacting the area where his head used to be. He glanced over towards the opposite side of where he was hiding and saw Canard pop out from where he had been taking shelter, firing a long-ranged rifle. The enemy that had been peppering his position was suddenly silenced, allowing him to dash over and snatch up one of the rifles that they had pre-positioned in their advance to the more 'settled' area of the colony.

He brought up the rifle, just as he saw a tiny flash of what looked like reflective material out of the corner of his eyes. Swinging up and around as he brought the rifle to bear, Kira pulled the trigger the moment he sighted through and saw movement on the 'rooftop' of this industrial area. The enemy soldier jerked back as the bullet lanced into his shoulder, and fell onto the rooftop.

Two more muzzle flashes later from Canard's rifle, he saw his brother wave a hand signal towards him. It was unfamiliar to him, but a moment later, the meaning was made clear when he saw him stand up and openly walk out from behind cover. A moment later, he heard a crackle in his ears as Canard opened a com channel and stated, “You're either more ruthless than I thought you were, or a terrible shot, Kira. A quarter of these assholes are still alive, and now they're going to suffocate to death.”

He remained silent as he slowly stood up from where he had been situated as his brother stopped before him, slinging his sniper rifle across his back. It had not been his intention to let those suffocate slowly – he thought that they would be mobile enough to fall back. Canard would never understand his reluctance in killing people – especially during the latter half of the war when he realized that the fighting had to stop. That was a philosophy that he continued to carry with him, and he tried his damnest to avoid killing as much as possible.

During the Heliopolis II battle, it was inevitable that he had to kill many of the technopaths – they threatened the lives of those on the colony. A few hundred enemy lives for millions that lived on the colony; it was an exchange that he wished he didn't have to make, but knew that he had to.

Canard wordlessly snatched the battle rifle out of his hands before shoving the sole remaining pistol between them into his hands. “Here,” his brother said. “Don't waste the bullets. We don't have the ammo to put them out of their misery.”

“What now?” he asked, trying not to grit his teeth in anger and despair as his right hand curled around the pistol. He briefly looked up to see that their mobile suits looked untouched and were still parked where they had been earlier. Whether or not Canard knew that something like this was going to happen, he had to mentally thank him for his foresight to line the area with rifles and the like.

“Let's go see what those bastards were protecting,” Canard answered, before gesturing towards the area where they had pulled back from.

Kira followed his lead, though considering just how confidently his brother was walking through the former battlefield they had waged, there seemed to be no need for com silence or sneaking around anymore. “What was that message you got earlier?” he demanded after a moment.

“Intel from a contact of mine in the PLANTs,” Canard curtly answered as they crossed the unfinished park unmolested and proceeded through the small wooded area. Even with no oxygen on the surface, Kira marveled at just how life-like the plastic-looking trees were. If one looked just at the forest as a whole, it would look so alive.

Yet as they emerged from the forest and into another open area, Kira stopped the moment his brother stopped as well. “Shit,” was all Canard spat out. There was a lone building sitting in the center of the plastic forest park, circular and squat in nature. No windows were covering the external part of it, and the entrance looked to be two double-steel doors, situated directly ahead of them.

“Canard?” he asked.

“You didn't look thoroughly through Hibiki's research notes on cloning, did you?” his brother asked, as he saw his grip on the battle rifle tighten.

“No,” he answered, shaking his head slightly.

“This was a proposed facility that DaFllaga wanted to build on Mendel, so that Hibiki would be able to fully separate out his researches between cloning and the Ultimate Coordinator Project. The bastards...”

He saw him let go of his rifle and brought up his left arm. Tapping something that was stuck underneath his wrist area, Kira saw a small screen of sorts pop up, embedded within the flight suit. The message that was on it showed [ _SOS 6+7. Confirmed alive._ ]

“SOS six plus seven... thirteen?” he whispered in puzzlement. “Nyabrius 13?”

“The storage colony for all PLANT-born Coordinator genetic profiles?” Canard asked, the acerbic tone that he usually had completely gone with that one question.

“That's where Athrun and the other FAITH members are,” he answered, looking up and catching his brother's clear frown at him. “It went silent about an hour after we destroyed the technopaths' fortress.”

“An SOS would never be sent unless the bulk of these bastards' remaining forces are at the PLANTs,” Canard began, though it seemed that he was muttering more to himself than anything else. “Iseult knows better than to send that message...”

Whatever else his brother was muttering dissolved into incoherence that was punctuated by quite colorful words. Nevertheless, Kira understood enough to know what Canard was referring to. “If we can salvage one of the survivors' chips, I know the frequency for their IFFs and can write an interface. Do you know if there is any way we can transmit what we find here to them? To draw them away?”

“Yes,” his brother answered, and began to type out the message: [ _Send the androids to my position._ ]

The frequency that he saw Canard input to transmit the message was familiar, and it took him a moment to realize why – it was the frequency that he had picked up and traced using the _Archangel_ 's systems a day or so earlier before they had all gone their separate ways. His brother was putting in the same exact frequency that the technopaths were using—no, the subchannel string was longer and contained alpha-numeric digits. It was a heavily encrypted channel. “That's a Eurasian Federation frequency, Canard,” he said.

“Artemis one-way encryption, to be more specific. It's not powerful enough to carry anything other than short texts, so the signal will have to be relayed from Earth to the PLANTs,” his brother answered, his caustic tone back as he snapped the line shut after transmitting the message. “I was on that fortress when two ships from OMNI and ZAFT decided to bring their pissing match to the Federation's doorsteps after destroying Heliopolis.”

Kira stared at him, and it was only Canard's sudden movement forward that he snapped out of his surprised fugue. Withdrawing his sidearm, he held it in a two-handed grip and silently followed him. When they got to the door, Canard didn't even bother looking for a keypad of sorts and merely fired six precise shots at the corners and center edges of the door. Something fizzled and arced slightly before the doors slid partially open. The two of them rushed in before the doors snapped closed again. It kept snapping open and closed again, but there was a keypad of sorts in front of them.

Holstering his gun, he approached the keypad and tapped a few of the numbers. Immediately, a boxed wall of sorts rose up and enveloped them. Startled, Kira sprang back slightly, and almost withdrew his gun again, before a hissing sound was clearly heard on the external side of things. A moment later, the he saw a projection flare up from the keypad as he heard Canard's tapping of the muzzle of his rifle on the metallic wall – the place had been pressurized with atmosphere.

Still, he did not remove his helmet and cautiously approached the keypad. It was blinking and waiting for an access code. However, not knowing how many tries he would be able to get before something bad would happen, he tried to look around the keypad area for any way he could try to hack or override it.

“Try four-four-two-four-five-four,” he heard his brother state, and glanced back to see him shrugging slightly.

Typing in the code, the keypad suddenly flashed green, and not a second later, there was a rumbling sound as the ground beneath them started to move. He could feel his stomach drop slightly with the acceleration of their movement – they were headed down underground somewhere. “Hibiki?” he asked as he pulled out his gun again, stepping up next to his brother.

“Hunch,” was all the answer he received as not a moment later, the elevator they had been riding on halted.

The elevator doors opened up to their right, and both of them immediately dashed to either side of the entrance. Kira saw Canard peek out and quickly scan around before gesturing for them to go forward. Together, they entered the facility that was beyond the elevator. It was dimly lit overhead, but the ambient lights that shone from below told him that this place was enormous.

The walkway that the elevator had dropped them on was at least four persons wide, but what was beyond its angular wind through the area was a little all-too familiar to them. Kira found himself staring and shaking slightly in pure horror as he lowered his pointed gun. Vats upon vats of artificial wombs, all lit up and blinking various colors of light covered the space.

Someone had not only stolen the information that he and Canard had thought they had destroyed at Mendel, but had also successfully restarted the Project.

* * *

_PLANT Colony: Remnants of Nyabrius 13..._

 

The sudden searing heat of the overloaded servers exploding was the last thing Lenore remembered as she snapped open her eyes and found that far be it she had been char broiled, but that it had been an involuntary chill that had passed through her body that caused her to awaken. A blinding pain also lanced through her head in response to her sudden movement as she winced, and tried to raise a hand towards her head. She found that she couldn't move much – she was wrapped up in a crinkly foil-like blanket.

Fortunately, her sudden movements attracted attention as she saw Andrew float over to her, relief evident on his face. He wordlessly freed her from the blanket and immediately a chill hit her body, overriding whatever discomfort or pain she had been feeling. She reached up to her head and touched cloth that was wrapped around it. As she looked around, she saw that Dalton had been wrapped in a similar manner as she had been, though it didn't look like he was stirring yet.

“Where's my father?” she asked, looking up at Andrew as she realized that they were missing two of their team. “Where's your mother?”

“Captain Joule suspects that they were some how abducted during the explosion in the server chamber and subsequent detachment of the colony,” Andrew answered as she saw him fold up the crinkly blanket-like foil that had been used earlier as a make-shift Faraday cage for her father and Dearka Elsmann to get past sensors. “He saw both of them land near him before he had to close his eyes and shield his face. The next time he opened them, they were gone. No ash marks at all.”

She silently nodded, knowing that worrying about her missing father, and Andrew's mother would not help. With the detachment of the colony into pieces, and just how dim and dark it was, with only half of the emergency power built into the sectioned piece not even working, they needed to find some way to get help.

“How many minutes of air do we have left?” she asked as she accepted Andrew's hand to help guide her towards where their commander and the others, minus Dalton, were gathered. Something was winking from an object that Alice was holding, but it looked like their commander was deep in discussion about something with Dearka.

“Estimates put it at perhaps an hour or so,” Andrew answered. “Though with the temperature continuing to drop, I think we'll be half-frozen by the time we pass out.”

“Oh joy, just the way I wanted to die,” she sarcastically muttered before the two of them stopped before Captain Joule, Dearka, and Alice.

“Sir,” both she and Andrew stated at the same time.

“Yula, Barton,” their commander answered, nodding, though an involuntary chill swept through him. “Do you have your pins on you?”

“Yes, sir,” she answered, as Andrew did the same. She dug deep into one of her many pockets in the black coveralls that she wore and pulled out the winged pin. Handing it over to her commander, she saw Dearka drop his pin into Joule's hand as well, before seeing him float over towards Dalton. Alice held up the blinking device, and Lenore realized that it was an active server, most likely one of the few that they had managed to salvage and save.

“Barton, you got K-frame, and T-frame wires in those pockets of yours?” Joule asked as Lenore helped Alice brace the server and its remnants of the rack it had been in, as their commander slotted the gathered pins into various areas into the hardware.

“Sir,” Andrew said, pulling out a tiny device that Lenore remembered being a mini-hacking module that he had built long ago to break into the training medical facilities to get supplies. After that assassination attempt and her subsequent hiding within an unused and abandoned area in the training facilities, she had always wondered how she had ended up being bandaged and healed so well. Andrew had subsequently told her what he had done – and she was immensely grateful for the risks that he had taken. It was a debt she knew that she could never repay, not even when she tried.

Wordlessly, their commander took the wires from the broken up device and attached the ends to what she could only assume to be the emergency battery power source that held the lifeline alive for this particular server. Joule waved all of them back after a few moments and they did so. As she saw her commander press the other ends to two of the pins, she saw the blinking light flare solid for a second before it started to blink in a pattern.

“Let's just hope we've summoned the rescue, not the enemy,” she heard Joule say after a moment, seeing him look up and around, as if he could see beyond the thick, metallic walls that surrounded them. She followed his gaze and silently prayed to Haumea that his words were true.

~~~

_PLANT Colony: Aprilius 4..._

 

“FAITH signal ma'am!”

Eileen looked up from the tactical table to see that one of the officers had sent over the marker onto the map. It was coming from the middle of the Nyabrius 13 debris field – one of her FAITH agents was still alive. She recognized the signal that was pulsating across another screen as she brought up the visual enhancer that translated the transmission to a graphical representation.

Before she could issue orders to the mobile suits in the area, another officer suddenly shouted, “Multiple contacts! Enemies surrounding all of us!”

Newsfeeds broadcasting in the background area, along with feeds from various mobile suits that had visual connection to this room suddenly lit up with the revelation of various types of mobile suits that she remembered seeing during the Junius 7 Memorial attack. They were hybrid suits – almost as many as she remembered seeing attacking Heliopolis II. She had thought that _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_ had destroyed not only their fortress, but almost all of the enemy forces as well.

It looked as if they had been gravely mistaken in their assumption about these enemy forces – as she stared at the space that surrounded the PLANTs. Mobile suits and armors from ZAFT were equaled in number by the enemy mobile suits and ships. The enemy suits and ships were not attacking just yet, but if she ordered her forces to attack, then there was a guaranteed mutual annihilation.

The 'technopaths' had been here within the PLANTs, hiding under mirage colloids for who knew how long. Worse yet, they were now ready to destroy every single man, woman, and child Coordinator living in the colonies.

~~~

_PLANT Colony: Unknown..._

 

“What the hell?!”

Despite the fever burning through him, Athrun managed to snap out of his shock and bodily tackle Korsakoff before the woman could get two steps closer to the clones of his mother and Cagalli. “Don't!” he hissed, pinning her down onto the ground. “Don't get near them! She—that girl who looks like Cagalli—she's patient zero! We're infected as well!”

He didn't have the heart to add that both of them most likely had also been infected by the clone of Cagalli before either of them had woken up. Now was not the time to wonder where the hell they were and how the hell they had gotten here – now was the time to try to find a way out. He could see comprehension dawn in Korsakoff's eyes as she suddenly fell still.

Letting her go, he sat back and turned around to face the two clones, as he saw Korsakoff sit up, wiping sweat that had been beading on her forehead. Neither Cagalli nor his mother moved from where they were, and the people who had thrown Korsakoff in had seemingly left. Finally, after a moment of just looking at them, he saw his mother turn and walk away, slipping back into the shadows.

“How...?” Korsakoff asked as Athrun noticed that she was staring at the young teenage clone of Cagalli.

“I don't know—” he began, but immediately scooted back as Cagalli took a step forward towards them. His action caused her to stop as he stared at her, and she at him.

He was terrified, not just because of the fact that the woman he had loved had been 'born' again, but because he didn't know what to do. For the first time in his life, he didn't know _what_ to do. He had thought the technopath problem was so simple to solve, to find out their true goals, and destroy those ambitions.

Now, face-to-face with the fact that not only had the neural-linked enemy had had an enormous army built up – they most likely had clones of key people grown to replace leaders and other factions when ready. If that failed, then they were ready with a virus that was able to create a massive pandemic among Coordinators. With the heavily modified genetic structure of Coordinators, any virus that got out of quarantine would easily mutate to a strain that could potentially infect and wipe out Naturals.

“Who are you?” Korsakoff asked. There was a moment's pause, before she asked, “Do you even understand me?”

Cagalli blinked, breaking eye contact with him and focused it on Korsakoff. He saw her shake her head, the action familiar to him as he remembered an older Cagalli acting much in the same way when vocally agreeing. He wanted to reach out, but at the same time, he still could not find the courage to move towards her. Even though his mother's words to him cautioned him, he wasn't sure if it was a lie designed to break him even further, or the truth designed to hurt him.

“How long do we have until we succumb to the illness?” he heard Korsakoff mutter.

“Our bodies will still be infectious even after we die,” he quietly stated, as he caught the young clone's eyes staring at him again. He slowly stood back up, saying, “They threatened to throw you out into the public if Cagalli is killed. They probably will do the same to me if you kill her. If we touch her, the infection is accelerated. If we don't, we're just as dead anyways.”

“Which means we're still somewhere within the PLANTs,” she answered. “Good.”

He managed to break eye contact with the young clone of the woman he loved and turned slightly. He saw that Korsakoff was standing incredibly close to him; he hadn't even heard her move towards him at all. In less than a blink of his eyes, she had wrapped her right arm around his shoulders, pulling him uncomfortably close to her. He protested the action and nearly sunk into a defensive stance to get her off of him, hoping that it was only the fever that was causing her to act so strangely.

“Don't, Athrun,” she hissed into his right ear, her breath quite hot. “I'm testing the clone's reaction.”

His eyes immediately focused away from Korsakoff to see that Cagalli had not even moved one bit, and was staring at them in the most unnerving way possible. He didn't know which was more uncomfortable – Korsakoff holding him or the clone of Cagalli not even viscerally reacting. He knew that if his Cagalli had been alive today and saw him in Korsakoff's overly suggestive embrace, she would have immediately done something to stop Korsakoff.

“Help will hopefully be on the way,” he heard her whisper, as she leaned slightly forward and stepped out to the side, pretending as if she was planting kisses along his right ear. It was taking all of Athrun's will to not shy away at such an unwanted amount of physical contact, even though another part of him was surprised at what he was hearing coming out of Korsakoff's lips.

She then stepped in front of him, but not directly in front of his vision, so that he still could see the young clone of his dead lover. Cagalli was still staring at them with seemingly dead eyes. He blinked and it was then that he saw a small tiny object that looked like a button that had come undone on the wrist area of the outfit Korsakoff wore. On the underside was not a knob to sew it back up, but rather a tiny screen.

It was scrolling, and what he saw was: [ _SOS 6+7. Confirmed alive._ ]

He looked up at her – she was a few centimeters taller than him and saw her silently say, 'Eurasian Federation'. That was all he needed to know to make the connections and confirm his earlier assumptions about their capture. She, or elements of the Eurasian Federation had been investigating something parallel or possibly the same as Kira, Lacus, and he. They all just happened to cross paths when he and the others had launched their gambit at Heliopolis II. She was a relay of sorts – and had sent a SOS. To whom, he didn't know, but he hoped that the technopaths did not intercept it.

“Get off of me, Korsakoff,” he stated out loud after a moment, as he pushed Korsakoff away, hoping that the operative understood his acknowledgment. He focused his eyes back on Cagalli. The clone remained mute and stationary, continuing to occasionally blink to signal that she was still alive and breathing.

“She's not your lover, Athrun,” she stated as a sudden dizziness over took him for a moment, forcing him to sit back down. “She's not even human.”

“She's as human as either of us,” he said, wishing that even with the secret message told to him, that Korsakoff would stop 'testing' the clone's reaction. It was already clear that Cagalli was not responding outwardly to any physical displays, but verbal – she had demonstrated some understanding. He did not want to get into a debate, not while he was trying to conserve strength and fight the illness.

“What's with the mobile suit here?” he heard Korsakoff ask after a few minutes of thankful silence. He glanced over to see that she now had her gaze on the inert mobile suit, seemingly wholly ignoring Cagalli.

He had a feeling that trying to hijack the mobile suit would produce even worse consequences than dying of an unknown illness that was ravaging their bodies. He also had a really bad feeling that the mobile suit was built by the technopaths, and was piloted by his cloned mother. His mother had, after all, been one of the first elite mobile suit pilots that ZAFT had produced, before her abrupt retirement from the service. Whatever these technopaths had planned, they had not gotten any cloned elite pilots from long ago to the Heliopolis II battlefield in time.

The silence between them, and the still-creepily staring clone stretched for what felt like a long while. He had so many questions for Korsakoff, but no excuse to ask her of it – he didn't know if Cagalli was the only one watching their exchange. He certainly also did not want to get physical with Korsakoff again, just to find out what exactly she and the Eurasian Federation were doing, and why she had decided to become the unofficial intelligence arm of Eileen Canaver.

“Litmus test?” Korsakoff asked, breaking that silence. There was a familiar confident tone in her voice that he recognized from their first mission together – she was ready to kick some ass. That meant that somehow someone had gotten a message sent to her, confirming that help was here. She was ready to fight her way to freedom.

He was not.

Other than Cagalli's non-verbal agreement in understanding what they were saying, he was sure that the clone had some knowledge of what exactly she was and who they were. But either due to shock or just some other sick psychological test that they had probably ordered her to perform by just the simple act of moving closer to them, she was preventing both of them from taking any drastic action.

He mentally shook his head – no, she was only preventing _him_ from taking action. Korsakoff didn't know Cagalli, didn't have any prior contact with Cagalli, and was not plagued by fear and uncertainty from the clone and what she represented. It was he, who had paralyzed himself.

He narrowed his eyes slightly as a cold pool of anger started to override his fear – these technopaths knew him, studied him, killed Cagalli instead of him, and realized their mistakes when they had done so. They thought they could fix their mistakes by trying to destroy everyone else that he cared about, make him doubt himself in this very chamber by showing him a shadow of the past, inviting shock to crawl into his very being.

They were wrong. He had proved them wrong at Heliopolis II, and he would prove them wrong again.

“Yeah,” he growled, a clarity like no other falling over his eyes, driving away the fever, pain, and illness within him. Slowly getting up from the floor, he carefully watched as the young clone also stood up, mirroring his actions.

_Forgive me, Cagalli_ , he thought to himself, and not a moment later, attacked the clone.

~~~

_Eurasian Federation, Earth..._

 

Lacus could hear the distant shouts, gunfire, and exploding grenades echo down the halls as the bunker rocked yet again with another blast hitting the mountain. Dirt and dust fell again, covering not only her, but also the table. She wiped away what she could as she glanced down to see that the Eurasian forces were steadily pushing into the ground stations and successfully taking it over.

“Barton, Ling, fall back,” she spoke into the headset that connected her to the others defending this bunker. “Eurasian reinforcements are headed towards your area. Pinch and hold the enemy at the tunnels.”

“Copy ma'am,” the voice of Ling answered as she saw the two dots of her bodyguards retreat around the bend.

As the steady blue dots of the Eurasians began to march upon the mountain, with some trying to go around to intercept more enemy forces coming in from the west, she heard the steady stream of orders issuing from Sakamoto's mouth. The OMNI pilot was guiding a specific strike team into one of the ground stations. A few moments later, she heard Sakamoto say, “Transmit across all frequencies, subspace channels direct to the L5 cluster in general.”

There was a pause in the woman's orders as she saw her bring up another screen and quickly type in something. As soon as the message was sent, a copy popped up on her side of the table: [ _Proceed with transmission_.]

As much as she wanted to take a deep breath and let it out, Lacus did not. She had made her decision long ago, when she took a stand against Patrick Zala and his extremist ways. She knew that Kira would not have it any other way, and neither would she. Both of them had wrought this future the moment they had decided together to embark on a path that put them in the crosshairs of hatred that would never die. They had to try... because who else would?

~~~

_PLANT Colony: Aprilius 4..._

 

“Com, what was that?” Eileen asked as she saw her screen fizzle ever so slightly. The images being transmitted from newsnets and external cameras attached to the colonies, were the only ones bending in weird shapes before snapping back to their rectangular images.

“Unknown, ma'am--” the communications officer stated.

“Ma'am, there's movement from the enemy forces!” another office interrupted as a murmur started up all around the room.

Eileen blinked and leaned forward slightly as she saw through the static-filled footage the strange mobile suits and ships starting to move. They were not moving to attack, but rather away, and moving rather fast. However, before she could issue orders to pursue and shoot down the enemy, they all suddenly disappeared back into their mirage colloids.

“Front line forces from Aprilius Fifteen to Septembrius Fifty, scatter shot towards the vector of their flight path!” she ordered, as exit vectors were quickly sent to the tacticle table before she punched them into a hopefully secured channel and uplinked them to the ships. The respective captains of the ships would derive firing solutions from those vectors and spread them out to the mobile suits and armors.

She did not want the bastards escaping, especially not after what they had done to Nyabrius 13 and the future of the Coordinators.

~~~

_Eurasian Federation, Earth..._

 

“Haumea, we should be out there!” Yuki muttered as he stared helplessly at the screen before him while wringing his hands on the throttles of the inactive _Vanguard_. Even with the cockpit sealed, he and Nicolai, who was sitting in the secondary pilot's seat, could feel the thumps of explosions going off near the _Archangel_.

The tiny blue dots of the Eurasian forces that surrounded their ship were thinning considerably as the white dots of the Blue Cosmos-technopath forces continued their relentless assault. Outside in the hangar, personnel were bringing in their allies one by one through various hatchways that led to the outside. Medics and personnel were running back and forth, bringing bandages, water, IV bags, and the like to try to save their allies.

The hangar bay hatch was not open, and they were under orders to not open it. Yuki only sat in the cockpit because he had been ordered to by Captain Ramius's second-in-command. He was ordered to shoot anything that was not allied with the ship or the Federation if the main bay hatch was breached.

Nicolai was running data towards the bunker where the delegation from the _Archangel_ had escaped to. Yuki didn't even want to process the fact that the seemingly distant but polite pilot, Keiko Sakamoto, was actually the daughter of the current Prime Minister of the Eurasian Federation. Nevermind that the Blue Cosmos problem in the Federation was even worse than he had been led to believe. All he wanted to do at the moment was go out and help the Federation – he did not want to sit in here and let them defend him and the ship. It didn't feel right.

“What the...” he heard Nicolai begin to say.

He blinked in surprise as his screen suddenly showed the rapid retreat of the Blue Cosmos-technopath forces. Even the blasts that were rocking the ship slightly had abruptly died. Something had or was drawing the forces away...

~~~

_PLANT Colony: Unknown..._

 

Athrun leapt in with a lightning fast jab from his curled right fist, only to find that his strike and subsequent left underhook was blocked by an equally fast counter strike that briefly locked his arms together with his opponent. He never got to strike the clone of Cagalli, as he found himself staring at a pair of green eyes and hair the same shade as his own.

Viciously thrown to the ground by the clone of his mother, he managed to bring his arms up in an 'x' to block her half-kick. Pain lanced through his arms and across his body as he saw that she had moved instead, to intercept Korsakoff. “Go! Take her! I'll hold them here!” he heard his 'mother' yell towards someone, as six enemy soldiers poured in.

Just before the soldiers filled his vision, he saw someone as equally familiar as his cloned mother and Cagalli, swoop in and snatch Cagalli up. His eyes widened in pure shock – it couldn't be... it had to be someone's incredibly sick joke to create a clone of the one honorable man that should have stayed forever dead. However, he never did to confirm what he saw as he rolled up onto his feet just before the soldiers could fully close around him.

With rifles pointed at him, Athrun looked all around him, hearing the grunts of his mother and Korsakoff fighting a few meters away. He had no weapon except for his fists and legs. It seemed, though, that either the technopaths had forgotten that he had been trained for situations such as this, were incredibly overconfident, or didn't know that he had defended Kira so long ago in nearly the same exact situation – except that the bullies had bats, not guns.

Even with an overly feverish body and dizziness clawing at him, Athrun grimly smiled to himself – he never did learn when to quit or accept defeat.

~~~

_L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

“Let's see what monster decided to recreate this nightmare,” Kira heard Canard mutter as soon as he saw a confirmation of the transmission pop up on the small receiver within his brother's flight suit.

The two of them floated out from the alcove where they had placed the suffocated body of one of the enemies that he had shot. Kira had let Canard do all the grunt work – as in digging out the chip – while he wrote the interface program into a hacked terminal that they had found. They had sent the boosted signal through the chip, into the Artemis encrypted channel, and down to Earth. It had then been transmitted from Earth to L5.

Now though, he tightened his grip on the gun as they cautiously fanned out from where they had been. Despite his paranoia at just how active the entire place was, not one guard or scientist had appeared. The place was completely quiet, and only the occasional beep from the vats in this enormous basement facility, punctuated that silence.

“I was wondering who on earth had managed to crack into an impossible network,” a voice said from their left.

Both of them spun at the same time, though instead of immediately firing, Kira saw Canard, who was just a couple of steps ahead of him, suddenly freeze. “No...” he heard his brother whisper in horror that sounded almost like an animal in excruciating pain.

A man dressed in beige slacks, brown shoes, and a white lab coat that covered his entire upper body and all the way down to his thighs approached from the far side of the chamber. He didn't recognize the man at all, but given Canard's sudden reaction, an awful feeling crawled up his stomach. This man was associated with the Project.

“Welcome home, Canard Pars and Kira Yamato,” the man stated, stopping just ten paces away from them, with a most unkind smile on his face as he held his arms open slightly in a seemingly benign and welcoming manner. “I've missed you, my sons.”

“Dr. Ulen Hibiki...” Kira stated, as dread spread across every fiber of his being.

 

~*~*~*~

 


	12. Chapter 11: Sequencing Life and Death

**Chapter 11: Sequencing Life and Death**

_C.E. 96, PLANT Colony: Unknown..._

 

Six guns, six soldiers surrounding him. It was almost too easy for Athrun to fight, even in his fevered state. However, even with a headache pounding throughout his head, he knew that these were not ordinary soldiers – these technopaths, clones, whatever they were, were clever and would have anticipated every single action that he would have taken to defeat the six around him. So rather than the acrobatics that he would have usually done, jumping up or even ducking straight down to make the soldiers lift or lower their weapons, he instead, struck his arms out.

Spinning ever so slightly as he caught the glimpse of the soldier directly opposite of where he had been, and yanked both ends of the rifles together. Minimal movements for maximal damage, he caused the two to fall as he quickly lowered his center of mass and jerked both weapons forward before they could be fired. The soldiers toppled to the floor, jaws clacking quite loudly, with their movements causing the other four to be knocked which ever way.

Athrun spun the ends of the rifles he was holding, clocking two more in the head with enough force to crack their necks. As for the final two still standing, he immediately let go of the rifle he had yanked in his right hand, flipped the left rifle over and fired nearly point blank into the soldier in front of him. This time, he fully spun around, and even though dizziness clawed at him, he held himself as steady as possible, pointing the rifle right at the final guard.

The final guard did not drop his rifle, but merely gripped it tighter, as if daring him to shoot, or else he would shoot first. Athrun knew that he was too close to the guard and his readied rifle to do anything significant. Nevertheless, the yell of rage coming from Korsakoff, timed with a rather loud smack of flesh hitting flesh in the fight between Korsakoff and the clone of Lenore Zala, drew the tiniest of distractions from the final guard.

It was all Athrun needed spring forward, ducking and dodging the slightly inattentive rifle fire to flip his own rifle around and drive it up into the guard's jaw. The final guard flew back, landing quite hard onto the floor. He turned, rifle in hand, sweat pouring down his face, just in time to widen his eyes at the fight that was quickly winding down.

“Don't kill her!” he shouted.

Korsakoff's improvised blade in between her knuckles stopped less than a centimeter away from the clone's eyes. Athrun saw the clone blink once before her eyes rolled up as she passed out from the injuries that she had sustained. He saw Korsakoff's jaw tighten in anger as she glared at him for stopping her, but she wordlessly then got up. Tossing the improvised weapon away, she approached him.

He stood his ground, waiting for her to ask the inevitable question. However, when she stopped, it was directly in front of him; close enough that she was invading his personal space. She then snatched the rifle from him and without remorse, quickly shot the guards on the floor around him. The rifle clattered to the floor, as he clenched his jaw in anger at what she had ruthlessly done. Just seeing the clone of his mother lying on the ground unconscious, and her shooting the guards who were left alive, reminded him a little too much of the past – of darker days where revenge had completely consumed him.

She did not say a word or explanation – not that he expected her to – and merely raised a hand to reach out towards the back of him. His instincts screamed for him to move, but before he could, a sudden, sharp but localized pain flared up at the nape of his neck. As fast as it had appeared, it suddenly disappeared – as did the feverish feeling and dizziness. When she withdrew her hand, he saw that there was a tiny semi-transparent square film no bigger than the size of a fingernail on the tip of her fingers.

“What is that?” he asked, managing to keep his anger at her and at the circumstances that had forced him into this situation, in check. That check in his cold ocean of anger was also being helped as she took step back to give him his personal space back.

“A chip of some sorts?” she guessed, as Athrun peered at the tiny object again, noticing that there was a circuit-like filament winding its way around the film. “I saw it before you decided to attack Cagalli.”

“A chip can't mimic fever or symptoms of illness, can it?” he wondered, ignoring her comment about the clone of Cagalli, as he saw her reach towards the back of her neck and quickly yank on something as well. “My symptoms are gone. Completely gone.”

“As are mine,” she said a moment later, bring both of her hands to the front. “Are we not infected?”

He shook his head, indicating that he wasn't even sure what to say about that. “We need to escape,” he stated, looking away and up towards the inert mobile suit, “and find out where they went.”

“What about her?” she asked, gesturing with a chin towards the unconscious clone of his mother.

“We take her with us.”

* * *

_L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

Whether it was instinct, or just because he couldn't bear to see his brother in so much emotional pain, Kira fired three rapid shots from his gun. All three shots missed hitting the doctor, but the message was clear. In that moment the doctor paused in his advance, Kira then snatched Canard by his right arm and immediately pulled him away. He ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction of where the doctor had emerged from, dragging his brother with him.

His rapid footsteps, along with the uneven gait of Canard's echoed all over the vast chamber. The chilling sudden laughter from the mad scientist slammed into their ears as Kira winced, but he pushed onwards. He had no plan, especially not after Dr. Hibiki had shown himself, and it was clear that Canard had slipped into a fugue state of whatever hellish memory he remembered about the doctor. He didn't know enough about the place, about what he should do, to physically destroy this place.

Running out of the chamber and into another one that looked almost as similar, he continued to weave his way around the walkways, daring not to look back to see if they were being pursued. He didn't know where he was going, other than following his instincts to get to somewhere safe, somewhere where they could hide and catch their breath. Going back up was not an option – the technopaths, if there were any down here, and Hibiki would have certainly seen to it that something bad would happen to both of them if they took the elevator back up.

After passing through a third vat chamber, Kira finally spotted something different – an alcove that seemingly led to somewhere else. Taking Canard with him, he bodily slammed into the door just beyond the alcove. It took him two tries to get the door open, and as he tumbled in, the lights in the place flickered quite weakly on via motion sensors. Dragging his brother into the area, he quickly closed the door, holstered his gun, and looked for something heavy to haul in front of the door.

Knocking down the nearest bookcase, he pulled and shoved it into the space before leaning back, huffing slightly with the exertion. He saw that Canard had remained where he was, and went over to prop his brother up against the eerily familiar-looking desks and consoles. This area looked almost like the labs that he had seen on Mendel.

With the lights weakly flickering on and off, he went over to the nearest one and poked a few buttons, hoping that his blind search would activate something. He also listened carefully to hopefully catch a whisper of any technopath troops running by and trying to surround them. As far as he could see, there was one way in and one way out of this particular lab. There was another door with a heavy-duty keypad on it, on the far side, but beyond that it was dark and considering how unused this lab looked, he could safely assume that beyond the other door was more unused areas. It was not the best area to have holed themselves up in, but nevertheless, there was at least a couple of air vents that he and Canard could possibly squeeze through if they wanted to get out.

Thus far though, there were no footsteps, and he could not even hear the maniacal laughter of Dr. Hibiki. In all of his reading through the Mendel files, everything pointed to the doctor being somewhere in his forties or close to that when the Ultimate Coordinator Project had successfully created him and shortly thereafter, had been abruptly stopped. By all rights, the doctor should have been at least in his seventies or eighties by now, but the man that he had seen out there did not look a day older than somewhere in his twenties.

That worried him as much as what Hibiki had restarted.

A few minutes later, for all of his random button pressing, one of the consoles finally lit up, though it blinked as a completely blank terminal. Pausing, he typed in a couple of simple prompts and received the standard in-out responses. Typing in a few more complex ones, the responses that appeared looked normal, but he was not entirely convinced that these consoles were not being monitored.

Canard's sudden gasp halted the beginnings of Kira's query into the system, as he hurried over, reaching his brother just in time to see him snap awake. “I'm going to kill him!” he heard Canard growl.

“Wait, don't!” he said, managing to plant a firm hand on Canard's chest to prevent him from approaching the walled off entrance. “We don't know what enemies are out there besides him! We need a plan!”

“We have a plan,” Canard viciously answered, as Kira felt him clamp a painful grip onto his wrist. “I'm going to kill that son of a bitch.”

Kira nearly withdrew his hand from his brother's chest as the sharp pain radiated up his arm, but he held himself firm. “I'm not going to let you do that,” he stated, staring at him in the eyes, matching his brother's anger with his own. “Not yet. This might be Mendel all over again, but there are only two of us here. The enemy forces are coming from the PLANTs, and if we detonate those mines now, we're not going to be able to stop the rest of them with just mobile suits alone. We need most of them here before we can set the mines off. We also need to make sure that this time, we truly destroy everything, including whatever data they have.”

The two stared at each other for a long while, unmoving and unyielding, until finally, the sharp pressure and pain lancing up Kira's arm was released. There was no softening of Canard's eyes, but Kira did not need a verbal confirmation from his brother to know that he was going to accept the conditions for now. Removing his hand, he resisted the urge to shake it out and led Canard back to the lone activated terminal.

He stepped to the side and let his brother look at what he had typed thus far. Canard then pecked out a few more commands before frowning for a moment. A few moments later, he saw him wordlessly type in something that was unfamiliar. Line after line started to scroll up on the screen, but Kira had noticed that the frown on his brother's face was no longer present.

“I only developed a handful of these backdoor commands before one of the scientists sniffed me out,” Canard stated. “We have, at most about five or so minutes before that bastard will probably discover the breach in the system.”

“Find out the connection to the PLANTs--” Kira began.

“I know,” Canard answered, already typing as fast as he could. Vat information popped up on the screen, causing him to pause and Kira to lean in slightly as they both read the data that was populating. “That can't be right...” Canard whispered.

“By all accounts, Dr. Hibiki didn't care about cloning...” Kira stated in disbelief. Yet in front of them was the proof that every single vat within this vast facility did not contain embryos, but rather artificially cloned and grown DNA that was being manipulated into human beings. “Who started this...?”

In response, Canard typed in a few more things. Multiple files popped up, but none were showing the necessary information they needed. It was only after a couple of more minutes that passed that a file finally popped up. “Dr. Lisa Hadrian,” Canard stated.

“She's the one who--” Kira began.

“Killed your sister,” his brother finished for him. “Yes, I know. I saw the trial they held at the PLANTs. She is the scientist who helped your parents, you, and me escape Mendel after killing Hibiki. Why the hell would she restart the Cloning Project?”

Canard then brought up a couple of the other files that had popped up in his search for the answer to who had restarted the Projects, saying, “Doesn't matter at the moment, but if I'm reading this correctly, Patrick Zala's genetic profile was among those information she first stole from the PLANTs.” A few more notes were also brought up as Kira's brother continued to say, “And it looks like a lot of those extremists who sided with him and were killed during the war were also cloned. Can't tell if she was just dicking around or genuinely wanted to restart the war, but I can make an educated guess that after she was publicly executed for her crime, her clones probably wanted revenge... or continue her work.”

“So they would have infiltrated the PLANTs to cause an uprising?” Kira asked, looking quite appalled.

“Who the fuck knows,” Canard answered. “Clones have an average lifespan of about twenty-five or so years before their bodies break down from old age. It's the shortened telomeres they're born with that cause rapid aging. They probably got desperate, and decided launching a piece of Junius 7 at Earth was the best way to quickly restart a war, or some messed up shit like that.”

“Rau LeCreuset,” Kira murmured, remembering just how crazed the ZAFT commander was during those last hours of the war when Genesis and the chaos it caused was at its full power. “He just wanted to watch the world burn.”

“Prayer Reverie,” he heard his brother quietly say. “He suffered both physically and mentally during his last few months alive. That's probably what Hadrian's clones are going through at the moment... including that clone of Dr. Hibiki.”

“I-I'm sorry,” he said, not knowing what else he could say to such a statement. It was clear that his brother only told him of it just to inform him of the context and rationale. It was not meant to evoke any sort of sympathy, especially not of what Canard had experienced in watching the person he cared deeply about, suffer in his last few months of life.

Canard didn't answer him this time and merely typed in something. A file popped up on the screen, and both only got a moment to read it before both the terminal and the screen abruptly went blank. “Shit, that's it,” he heard Canard spit out. “Hibiki knows that we've been in the system.”

“Canard,” he began as his brother briefly slammed both fists on the table in frustration. “Was that...”

“Yeah,” his brother answered in a rough and hoarse tone, swinging his battle rifle back to the front, gripping it tightly. “Those bastards regrew a clone of either Al DaFllaga or Mu LaFllaga. He's here and I'm going to find him before I go kill Hibiki. Who knows what we'll be dealing with: Al DaFllaga himself, Rau LeCreuset, Prayer Reverie, or hell... maybe someone new and unpredictable.”

* * *

_PLANT Colony: Aprilius 4..._

 

Six of her seven remaining FAITH agents had survived the breaking of Nyabrius 13. Yzak Joule was the only one of her remaining FAITH agents that she had requested to report to here, with the others being tended to by the medics on board their ship, _Hemingray_. Eileen would have preferred them to be tended at a hospital, but every single hospital, civilian and military, were occupied by those who had been rescued from the broken colony or had been injured in the brief fight against the technopaths. Thus, their recovery was to be on their home ship.

Though a piece of gauze was covering the stitches on the right side of his temple that Joule had received, she knew that her agents had not escaped unscathed with just scratches. There were probably many more bandages that were hidden under the fresh white uniform that he was wearing. The briefing that she had received from Joule told her so.

At the moment, she had not just the breaking of their most valuable colony to contend with, but also the fact that these technopaths had stolen genetic information for who knew what purposes. They were still out there, hidden somewhere under mirage colloids, and in the brief skirmish, it was clear that the technopaths were only keen on getting away. The lifeblood Coordinators as a whole had been shattered in front of them, and now, she had to lead the people, knowing that it was the end of their existence as they knew it. Still, she could not bring herself yet to even address it – it was not only a matter of pride, but also of protection.

If Earth got wind as to just how vulnerable the PLANTs and Coordinators themselves had become with one swift and precise blow, there would never be peace between Coordinators and Naturals again.

“Explosion from Sector 34 on Martius 3!”

Eileen's table received the footage just as she saw debris jet outwards from the nadir side of colony, followed by something exiting through the hole formed. “35th Squadron--” she began.

“... mayday, mayday _Hemingray_...” a familiar voice interrupted over the general com frequency, scratchy but audible. “This... is –elena Korsak-- requesting.... mayday, mayday -- _gray_... do not... mobile suit---need...”

She looked up, catching Joule's eyes as he silently nodded. “35th Squadron standby and keep the mobile suit where it is,” she ordered over the com channel. “ _Hemingray_ and her crew are on their way.”

* * *

Lenore was not the one to stand near the secondary entrance to the _Hemingray_ 's hangar bay as the bright fire-engine red mobile suit entered. It was directed by the crew to its berthing position, though instead of standing upright, it knelt down instead and depowered. Another crew, full of people suited in hazmat suits floated out from the main entrance and made their way down to where the mobile suit was.

“Sir?” she heard Dalton ask and turned slightly to see their commander and Dearka coming down the hall.

Moving over slightly to let the two of them through, their commander said, “Zala and Korsakoff are alive. They're in that mobile suit.” An overwhelming sense of relief passed through Lenore, but she didn't let it fill her completely as she sensed a 'but' in Joule's words.

“But the hazmat team,” Andrew spoke up, looking worried as Lenore saw the team string an iso-ward around the mobile suit.

“It was your mother who requested it over a secured channel,” Joule answered. “I don't know why, but I trust her instincts.”

“I thought Coordinators couldn't get sick,” Alice said, as the hazmat team completed their work and the hatch of the unknown mobile suit popped open. From this vantage point, Lenore couldn't see anything except for some movements by the brightly suited personnel.

“We all thought Nyabrius 13 couldn't be destroyed,” Joule answered.

“Shit, you're not suggesting that...” Dearka began but fell silent. “That would explain why the 'technopaths' were mining for genetic data.”

Silence fell upon all of them as they watched with apprehension at what the hazmat team was doing. Lenore thought she saw her father among the suited people, but between the reflective iso-ward and the limited movement they could see from their vantage point, it was nerve-wracking. Minutes passed, and just when she thought she couldn't take the wait anymore, the small comlink that their commander carried suddenly buzzed.

“They're clear, sir,” the chief medical officer's tinny voice stated over the device. “Injured, but clear of any infectious diseases, though sir... I think you need to come see this. They're not the only two who returned.”

She saw her commander clearly frown before acknowledging the report. As relieved as she was to hear the news, she knew that their resident medical officer would never say such things. At least not in a joking manner. Their medical officer did not have a sense of humor at all, and Lenore had learned it the hard way.

Following Joule, they pushed off from the secondary entrance and landed on the floor of the bay in short order. As happy as she was to see her father through the iso-ward, Lenore managed to keep herself from running up and into the ward to hug him. Professional decorum, and the fact that she could now see that her father had been injured quite a bit, prevented her from rushing up to him.

Entering the ward, the chief medical officer gestured for Joule to follow her to what looked like someone lying on a stretcher, dressed in the red uniform of an elite pilot. Lenore looked at her father, who had a grim expression on his face as he was being bandaged up by another of the medics who had only shed part of the hazmat suit. It was Joule's rather loud and coarse exclamation that drew her attention away.

She and her teammates approached and peered over, just as they saw Joule step back and suddenly turn around, saying, “That can't be... Athrun?! Tell me that isn't...” Even Dearka had swore quite loudly as well in the middle of Joule's implored questioning.

“That's the clone of Lenore Zala,” she heard her father quietly state, though there was a chill in that tone that she had never heard before. It sent a bout of shivers down her spine as she looked back to see that there was an incredibly flinty look in her father's eyes. It was almost as if his eyes had hardened to crystals and were about to shatter something. If looks could kill, she was sure that the entire ship would have been vaporized.

“Clone?” she couldn't help but whisper as she quickly turned from that frightening look and finally took the couple of steps forward to take a good look at whoever way lying on the stretcher. Shock coursed through her body – the woman who was lying on the ground looked almost like her... no almost like her father. She had never seen pictures of her paternal grandmother, but remembered her aunt saying that her father, Athrun, was nearly a splitting image of Lenore Zala.

“We think old genetic profiles were what the bastards were after on Nyabrius 13,” Andrew's mother, Yelena Korsakoff, spoke up as Lenore took a couple of steps back and away from the unconscious cloned woman. Managing to tear her eyes away from the sight, she focused it back onto the two, though she could not look at her father in the eyes.

“These--” Yelena continued to say as Lenore saw her extend a hand out that had two incredibly tiny, semi-transparent, circuit-like squares in the palm of her hand “--are what they stuck us with. It made us feel symptoms of fever, dizziness, all sorts of shit. Both of us truly thought we had been infected with some sort of virus. Whatever the purpose of that was, it doesn't matter. The fact that they destroyed Nyabrius 13 means that they have everything they need. They have a new chip in play, and we have their vector via this mobile suit.”

“They're headed towards L4,” Lenore heard her father state.

“Isn't that where--” Joule began.

“Yeah,” she saw her father nod once before glancing over towards Yelena, as if expecting her to speak up about the relationship of L4 to the fact that the PLANTs most guarded secret was now just pieces of scrap metal.

“Mom?” Andrew questioned, as Lenore looked back to see that there was a hesitant, almost dismayed look on his face. She wanted to place a comforting hand on his shoulder or even grasp his hand, but both of them were in uniform, still on duty. Propriety and proper decorum still had to be shown, even if there were some aspects of informality, such as Andrew's calling of his mother by personal, rather than professional. Lenore did not want to dishonor the uniform, not after finding out what happened to her father in the past and just how personal and painful the war had become for him.

“Elements of those who served in the Eurasian Federation during the war had long suspected that extremist entities would try to come up with something else, other than what was used during the war, to destabilize the peace,” Yelena began. “One of those people was a man codenamed Myrdin, who proposed that given the advancement of genetic research, there was a chance that a virus would be created by extremists – a pandemic to spread to the masses living on Earth **or** the PLANTs.”

“Why did you believe him? This... Myrdin?” Dearka asked.

“Because he is a Coordinator, and voluntarily fought for the Eurasian Federation during the war. He knows more about Blue Cosmos and other extremists than we do, and believe me, not all of them are for a 'pure and blue world' as their motto suggests. I don't know who he really is, other than the codename he was assigned by the Janissaries I had been allied with during the war,” Yelena stated.

“Janissaries?” Joule stated, his expression mirroring those of the others – shock.

“They don't normally let Coordinators become Janissaries, much less accept them into their service for the Federation,” the woman said. “As independent and free as the Eurasians would like their country to be, they're not as tolerant of Coordinators as Orb was and still is. Myrdin was the one who advocated for my joining their ranks after the war, because they needed eyes and ears in the PLANTs. He, along with others within the Janissaries didn't know whether or not extremists in the PLANTs would continue to carry out Patrick Zala's will by possibly creating a pandemic virus to wipe Naturals out. Or perhaps some group on Earth would do the same to Coordinators.”

“Kira, Lacus, and I thought differently,” Lenore heard his father say before any of them could ask any other questions. “We thought extremists were going to continue to build weapons, mobile suits, and armaments. It now looks like these technopaths did both.”

“But how?” Alice asked. “How could such an entity have gathered so much without people finding out?”

“You assassinate the right people, apply the right amount of pressure on governments, and there you have it – attention diverted,” Joule quietly answered as Lenore saw him cross his arms over his chest, a darker look taking over his features for a moment. “Judging by what Canaver showed us on what surrounded the PLANTs while we were stuck inside the debris, they probably sent in most of their forces during the battle at Heliopolis II. What we have left...”

“Are their reserve forces, and elite pilots that were supposed to have destroyed the PLANTs,” Dearka finished for him. “Then why are they headed towards L4? Is that where these 'clones' are being grown?”

“I sent an SOS through an encrypted channel to the Janissaries,” Yelena said, holding up her sleeve that looked like there was a button hanging loose. “Someone answered. If you want to find out more, and I personally want to, I need to directly contact the others.”

Silence answered her request, though a few moments later, Lenore saw her commander unfold his arms and curtly nod, saying, “Fine, but Canaver will be informed of everything that you've told us thus far. Including your association within the Eurasian Federation's Janissaries.”

“I didn't expect anything less, Captain Joule.”

* * *

_Eurasian Federation, Earth..._

 

“ _Hyperion_ is not invincible.”

“This person...Myrdin,” Lacus spoke up, interrupting whatever argument between William Aurelia, Prime Minister Stephanopolos, and Yelena Korsakoff was about to break out over the channel. “Regardless of who he is, Kira trusts him implicitly to have done what the two of them have done. I believe our focus should now be on these technopath 'clones' and stopping the chaos they are trying to sow.”

“I agree,” Canaver stated, as Lacus saw her nod once over the image and sound encrypted channel opened from the _Archangel_.

Though there was no more fighting within the capitol port of the Eurasian Federation, there was still so much to clean up and do. Most of the Federation's forces had pursued the Blue Cosmos-technopath forces towards the ancient launch site known as the Cosmodome, located in the steppes of the region. Stephanopolos had yet to hear if the destruction of that ancient launch platform was successful or not, which would effectively ground the enemy forces and keep them from reinforcing those already in space.

“As we speak, we are outfitting the _Archangel_ with boosters. Victoria Base has been alerted and will be expecting them at the mass driver shortly,” the Prime Minister stated. “I've already requested an emergency meeting with Chief Representative Seiran and others of the Alliance for reinforcement spacecraft and mobile suits to be mobilized and deployed. Given the orbital inclination, it will be about a four hour rendezvous from launch at Victoria until the _Archangel_ will be passing through the Debris Belt. Will your lunar forces be there by then?”

“The lunar forces have already been dispatched on an intercept course between L1 and the Moon,” Canaver said. “ _Hemingray_ is the fastest ship we have. Her crew will rendezvous with the _Archangel_ with additional boosters. I'd rather have them reinforce Yamato and this Myrdin agent of yours at L4, and apply as much pressure as possible to get these technopaths to stop destroying Humanity.”

Lacus had to admire Chairwoman Canaver's strength and resolve not to outright declare open war on the technopaths, even after what the enemy had done to Nyabrius 13. She didn't know if Stephanopolos and the others knew just how significant the colony was to those living in the PLANTs, but she could only imagine just how vengeful every person living on the PLANTs were. Their anger and fury was almost, if not more than the injustice and rage they had suffered when Junius 7 had been destroyed.

“I concur,” Murrue suddenly spoke up, as Lacus saw her take a step forward. “We'll do our best to keep them at L4 until the Alliance reinforcements arrive.”

* * *

_Later, at the L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

“Here.”

Kira looked up from where he was sitting, having shucked off his flight suit gloves and helmet long ago, to see something being thrown towards him. It was a half-eaten bar of something that didn't even look like food, and a small canteen of water. Blinking, he looked up to see Canard shrugging, tossing his own empty canteen to the side before hearing him say, “It's edible. Water's good as well.”

Kira looked back down at the bar of what was supposed to be food and the canteen. Somewhere in this lab they were holed up in, his brother had found something to eat and a little bit of fresh water in a low-gravity bottle that had not yet had its seal broken yet. He did not want to think about just how old both things were, but considering that a lot of the emergency supplies most colonies were initially stocked with non-perishables, he had to trust that the food and water was still good. This abandoned colony would have been the same – emergency supplies sent up before its colonists arrived.

Taking a bite out of the half-eaten bar, it tasted crumbly and chalky in his mouth. Still, he ate all of it, forcing himself to swallow the emergency food source before cracking open the canteen. Drinking half of what was in the bottle, the awful taste in his mouth got even worse before he was able to attempt to drink the rest of the water.

“Yech,” he couldn't help but say.

His brother didn't even bother commenting and merely dusted himself before picking himself up off the floor, putting his gloves back on and helmet with the faceplate opened slightly, back on. Kira did the same as he saw Canard fiddle with his rifle for a moment and walked to the other door with the keypad.

After discovering that a clone of either DaFllaga or Mu existed and was present here, Canard had immediately tried to find another way through to the other side of the lab. Unfortunately, it seemed that this particular lab Kira had sequestered both of them in was the choke point between the two sections. His brother also had not gone far and had returned shortly. Kira had been surprised that Canard didn't just outright try to hunt down Dr. Hibiki right then and there.

“Found these in another lab,” Canard stated, throwing him two flashlights. Kira caught them as he heard his brother say, “Hold them for me.”

“Canard,” he said, shifting the flashlights to one hand as he saw his brother tap a few numbers at the keypad on the door. “Why did you come back? Why didn't you go kill Dr. Hibiki like you said you were going to?”

“Because its a test,” his brother gruffly answered, continuing to punch in numbers. “Because this is exactly like one of the various tests that he and the other scientists made me do to examine my abilities as a Coordinator. They told me I fucking failed that test. That I was a failure. I'm going to prove them otherwise.”

“Canard--”

“That clone of Hibiki is a shadow of the man that I knew – Hadrian couldn't even 'program' him correctly!” Canard snapped, just as Kira saw him stab the last number into the keypad. The door before them suddenly opened, but there was no light that spilled into the lab – only darkness.

Clicking on both flashlights, he gingerly handed one over to to him as Canard continued to say, “He deliberately put that information about the clone of DaFllaga and LaFllaga into the system. He wants me to go into there, and I'm inclined to oblige him.”

Withdrawing his gun, Kira held the flashlight up, mashing it against the top of the weapon as he followed his brother into the dark chamber. Instead of asking the obvious question, he asked, “What happened during that test?”

“I found you; a little tiny eight-week old fetus, floating in your artificial womb. Defenseless and completely unaware of the world around you. I failed to kill you,” Canard answered.

Kira's breath hitched for a moment as he found his flashlight and tip of his gun straying ever so slightly up towards the head of his brother. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he faltered in his steps and stopped after trying to take two more. “What...” he tried to say, but could not seem to utter the words he wanted to say.

“I'm not going to fail again,” his brother stated, as he saw him pause up ahead and turn slightly to only shine the flashlight onto him. “Whatever, or whomever Hibiki and his nightmare of clones are hiding here, I'm going to kill it this time. You're going to help me.”

He wanted to refuse, wanted to say no—that he would never commit such a grievous action again—but there was no where else to go. He could stay in the lab, but guilt for leaving Canard to fend for himself would eat at him. He had been the one to ask him to come to L4 with him – to stop these people. It was his responsibility, and it would be up to him to stop Canard from killing whomever they would find here. He could tell that being labeled a 'failure' ate at his brother, but yet...

Kira knew that in order to save his brother from continuing down this self-destructive path, he would have to make sure Canard 'failed' the test again. Otherwise, he would lose his brother forever and allow the mad clone of Hibiki to win.

 

~*~*~*~

 


	13. Chapter 12: Sins of the Mother, Sins of the Father

**Chapter 12: Sins of the Mother, Sins of the Father**

_C.E. 69, Lunar Preparatory Academy, Moon..._

 

“Hey, Athrun!”

Athrun looked up just in time to see Kira flop down next to him, dropping not only his own books onto the terrace wall, but almost knocking him off balance with a casual drape of his arm around his shoulders. Fortunately, he was so used to Kira's actions that the book that had been spread open on his lap did not even shift that much, much less have its pages flap back and forth. “Hey, yourself,” he answered, grinning.

“Please stay just like that for a moment, Kira, Athrun!” a voice called out to them.

He blinked, just as he looked up and saw both the editor-in-chief of the school's Yearbook Committee and their class year editor wave at them. There was a camera in both of their hands, though there was a data pad tucked under the arm of their class year editor.

“Sure!” Kira's boisterous and cheerful shout affirmed the editor's request, as Athrun saw him raise an arm to wave back. He couldn't help but laugh at Kira's antics, though a moment later, his best friend continued to say, “You got the picture yet, chief?”

“Yep, I got it! Thanks!” the editor-in-chief stated, briefly looking down at the digital image that appeared in the camera before giving both of them a wave goodbye.

“So what's it for, Oh Great and Mighty Class Editor Tamara?” he heard Kira ask as their class year editor approached them instead of following the editor-in-chief elsewhere. “The casual every day life section?”

“You're both going to love this,” she answered, trying to hide her laughter while withdrawing the data pad from under her arm and handed it over to them.

Athrun leaned slightly over to peer at the screen as Kira scrolled through the results of the poll they all had been given a couple of weeks ago. It was absolutely no surprise to him or pretty much anyone else in their class that Kira got picked for 'Most Outgoing'. When he wasn't quietly working on some new program, Kira seemed to breathe a lot of life into the normally placid, quiet school grounds. That particular accidental trick a couple of years ago that wiped the school's servers had been one that catapulted Kira to the popular spotlight.

But he knew his friend quite well, and knew that underneath all that cheerfulness, there was a sensitive soul within Kira. While tensions between Earth and the PLANTs continued to deteriorate everyday, he had heard Kira spill his worries about war to him. He had then realized that all of his friend's antics were a coping mechanism of sorts to try to keep the spirits of those around him up. Kira was trying to keep their classmates from thinking and worrying the same way he was worrying about Earth and the PLANTs.

“Really?” Kira's exasperated question directly at their class year editor brought him out of his musings as he saw Kira stop on the poll results for 'Best Class Couple'. To his surprise, his and Kira's names were the 'winners' of the poll.

“Did someone put our names in as joke?” he asked, as he saw Kira tap the poll results to expand it. He blinked as he stared at the expanded result: ninety-eight percent of their class had voted for them, even though they weren't a 'couple' in the traditional sense of the poll question or word – a dating couple.

“I have no idea,” their editor answered. “Believe me when I say that I'm was as surprised as both of you are now. Dr. Lansing's program is still churning the data points to all the polls to make sure that someone did not put a hack program into all the results.”

“Hey,” Kira protested, handing back the data pad. “I'm not doing that stuff anymore, Tamara. I learned my lesson after wiping the instructional database.”

Athrun deliberately coughed at that statement, turning his head elsewhere with a semi-innocent look passing over his face. Kira's arm was removed from his shoulders as he felt him elbow him in the ribs at what he had done. While it didn't hurt, he still could not help but tease him for what had happened; even though back then, he had been extremely worried that Kira would be expelled from the Academy. Still, near scrapes and the edge was where both of them lived on, and he hoped that in the future, it would remain that way. Life was more fun and exciting in every way possible for him with Kira around.

Tamara's words interrupted their friendly argument, as she said, “If it turns out its a glitch, then we'll use the picture for the everyday life section.”

* * *

_A Few Months Later..._

 

Athrun hated to ask his mother to help him with his clothes, since he was near the age of majority and would eventually move out to live on his own. Still, this annoying bowtie would not knot correctly. He hated wearing bowties with his clothes, but the formality of this event necessitated it. As he walked out of the bathroom in his room, he saw that his mother was standing near his cork board of photographs. She had a hand up, fingers hovering near a particular picture, before turning at the sound of his footsteps.

“Mother?” he asked.

“Here, let me help you,” she kindly said, approaching and reaching out to take the half-finished knot of a bowtie he had attempted to tie for the fifth time.

“Thank you,” he said as he held himself still, looking over towards the cork board that held numerous photographs, letters, and scraps of newspapers hanging from it.

Center of it all was a picture that he had received in a physically mailed envelope from his class year's yearbook editor, just after he had been abruptly pulled out classes. His parents had not meant to disrupt the final two months of his education, but snap elections had been called for in the PLANTs. His father had been unexpectedly voted in as Defense Chairman Councilor.

He never did find out if that yearbook vote for 'Best Class Couple' was a glitch or not, but he appreciated the photograph being sent to him. He had had to study for his finals and take the exams by himself, due to the infrequent alignment of the PLANTs com systems to the Academy – which meant he couldn't study with Kira or take the exams with the rest of the class.

_Kira, I wonder what you are doing right now_ , he thought to himself as he felt his mother smooth out the bowtie, having finished tying it.

“You miss him, don't you, Athrun?” his mother asked as she stepped back, giving him a solemn look.

He wordlessly nodded before picking up his jacket and putting it on. “I'm not going to question father's wisdom in accepting the Defense Chairman position, but I wish that things between the PLANTs and Earth did not have to be this way.”

“I do as well,” she answered, as he followed her out and made his way down to the foyer.

Father was waiting for both of them, and merely opened an arm to gesture for them to go to the car. Climbing into the back, the butler closed the door and climbed in the front. While Athrun stared out of the windows and of the scenery breezing by, he wondered if there was another purpose to the formal evening meeting meal that his father had set up with Chairman Siegel Clyne. His father's position was quite influential, but without the backing of Clyne or his allies, his father could not get stronger measures to counter Earth's oppression of them to pass in the law chamber.

It was clearly a political meeting, but Athrun did wonder why Clyne was bringing his daughter, Lacus, along. Surely a rising Idol and songstress had no business suggesting inputs into political matters – at least not at the beginning of her burgeoning career. He mentally shrugged to himself, if not, then at least he would have someone to talk to, while his parents and Clyne discussed political matters. He was not exactly interested in those matters yet, being unsure of what he wanted to do with his life at the moment.

They arrived at the magnificent and elegant restaurant in short time, and were escorted in and up to a private area. Clyne and his daughter were already there, and as introductions were made, they were all eventually seated around the table. Athrun ended up being seated next to Lacus, whom he thought looked far more elegant in person than pretty in the music video that had been released with her first single. There was a poise to her demeanor that he had not expected, and he wondered if his assumption about her not being ready for political matters was wrong.

“Athrun?”

Athrun rapidly blinked and flushed red as he tore his eyes away from Lacus, realizing that he had been staring at her. Focusing it on his mother, who had been the one to knock him out of his thoughts, he managed to stammer, “Yes?”

“Would you please tell the Chairman of your experience in attending the Lunar Preparatory Academy?” she patiently asked, though he wasn't sure if he heard a shy giggle issue from Lacus.

Hastily nodding, he began his narrative, starting with what he remembered from long ago. With present company though, he excised the very first thing he had done, which was to defend Kira from bullies. None of them, especially his parents, needed to know that he got into a fist fight on his first day of school. He had managed to pass off his bruised knuckles as slamming his hand into the lockers by accident, though he mentally smirked – the bullies had not been able to pass off their bruises from the bats they had brought with them. He had taken their weapons and used it against them.

By the time he was done with his story, they were already on their third course of the meal. Other topics were brought up, and Athrun had a feeling that his experiences at the Lunar Preparatory Academy was enough to satisfy the 'quota' for his speaking at this dinner. Of Lacus, she had said nothing thus far, and neither did her father encourage her to speak up about a personal topic of sorts. He found himself a little curious in wanting to get to know the budding songstress a little better, but he wasn't sure if it was proper or not. There was something about those kind yet vulnerable eyes of hers, that reminded him of something... or rather, someone.

It was when the sixth course rolled around that Chairman Clyne said something that surprised Athrun. “If you pardon my presumption, I heard from my secretary that you had been a test pilot for ZAFT long ago, Lenore. Is that true?”

“ZAFT?” Athrun asked, looking over towards his mother, his food all but forgotten. “Didn't Earth force us to disband them after six months, even though we told them that it was a militia force created only for trade transport patrol purposes?”

“Ah, I see you know something about the history of ZAFT, Athrun,” Clyne stated, smiling.

“Uh, nothing more than what I was told in history classes, sir,” he answered, looking back down at his food for a moment in embarrassment.

“To answer your question, Chairman, yes,” his mother then spoke up, as he saw her incline her head for a brief moment. “I was a mobile suit test pilot, but similar to all of my compatriots, when ZAFT was disbanded, we too were disbanded.”

“We may have yet some need for the skills you've learned as a soldier,” Clyne stated. “Perhaps others who were a part of your training class as well. There are those within the Council and some more vocal constituents who are nervous about the completion of Junius 7. There are many things that concern them, but the most prominent is sabotage from within – after all, this is our first farming colony. Perhaps if we could place formerly trained militia in the colony, it would ease their fears.”

“Why not just reform ZAFT?” Athrun heard his father ask. “We do have the budget to commission a training class in secret.”

“I had considered that, Patrick,” Clyne answered, nodding, “Secrecy in creating ZAFT the first time is what eventually got the class forcibly decommissioned. Lining our colonies with active military personnel is something I want to try to avoid, but I will take your additional suggestion into consideration.”

Athrun tuned out the rest of the conversation that his parents and Clyne were having, with the shock of hearing his mother's brief career in the military, fading. It was Lacus who caught his attention again, as out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her lean slightly forward. There was a small frown on her face, though her eyes were telling an even larger story. Anxiousness and concern swam in those expressive blue eyes of hers, reminding him greatly of another person he had seen wear the same look – Kira.

Reaching out with his right hand, he did what he usually did to try to reassure Kira, and clasped his right hand around Lacus's left hand. Oppression within the PLANTs had become much worse in the last few months than the time when he and his family had moved back to the colonies. Even with this light conversational debate they were having over dinner, it was clear that the people of the PLANTs were not happy. He hoped that his small modicum of comfort to Lacus was enough to wordlessly convey that everything was going to be all right, and that there was nothing to be worried about.

At least he desperately hoped so.

* * *

_C.E. 96, At the L1 Rendezvous..._

 

“Hey, can I just sit here with you guys until we're ready to leave?”

Yuki looked up to see Lenore standing in front of where he and Nicolai were, working on the upgrades to _Vanguard_. There was a second screen next to Nicolai, scrolling with information from the slaved and isolated OS of the stolen mobile suit. Athrun was currently working on rewriting a new OS into the mobile suit, while he and Nicolai extracted the necessary information they needed to enhance their chip-driven IFF signal.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Why are you even asking?”

“I just...” she began, sighing and flopping down opposite of where they were sitting on the platform. He saw her gaze turn up towards the overly bright red mobile suit, with the faint echoes of the clacking of fingers on a keyboard issuing out from its open cockpit.

Normally, he would have said something bright, joking, or cheerful to try to raise the spirits of both of his cousins up, but lately, he found it incredibly hard to be even happy about anything. Least of which was the fact that ever since they had rendezvoused with the _Hemingray_ to get additional boosters so that they could keep up with ZAFT's fastest warship, was the appearance of this new mobile suit. Something had happened during the breaking of Nyabrius 13 or afterwards to Athrun. It seemed that Athrun's current demeanor was frightening not only Nicolai, Lenore, and him, but also almost everyone else he came into contact with.

The only person that seemed to be able to reach out and get more than a one worded response from him when it concerned matters at hand, was Lacus. Now though, with the last of the automatons securing the boosters on the _Archangel_ , and the mobile suits watching and keeping an eye out, returning – they would only have this small moment to spend in peace before racing to L4. As worried as Yuki was about his father at L4, he knew that he had to be there to support Lenore and Nicolai in their hour of need, which was now.

He had to push his shock at what happened in the Eurasian Federation, along with the destruction of a PLANT colony, and the revelation of certain people being agents of the Federation, to the back of his mind. Hell, he didn't even know what to say to comfort his girlfriend, other than to hold her and let her cry on his shoulder. Inga was trying to come to terms with the heritage that her parents possessed, much like Nicolai and Lenore had to when Athrun had revealed himself to be a FAITH agent.

“And I thought our family reunion back in C.E. 73 was uncomfortable,” he heard Lenore softly comment and saw her gesture with a flick of her chin towards the far side of the bay.

Both he and Nicolai glanced behind them for a brief moment to see that the pilot of _Meridian_ , Andrew Barton, had also briefly berthed his mobile suit on the ship and was making his way down to the floor of the bay. Inga was already standing next to her parents, William Aurelia and Yelena Korsakoff. It looked like Barton's father, Hikaru, was already deep in discussion with Korsakoff and Aurelia about something before he saw him open an arm to indicate that the young pilot was welcomed. Hikaru's other son, Daneel, was also standing in and among them, though he looked to be merely listening in and not contributing anything to the conversation.

As much as Yuki wanted to go and reassure Inga that all was going to be well, he remained where he was. This was a family affair that he did not want to interrupt, even though he was still processing at just how casual the Aurelia-Korsakoff-Barton family seemed to treat their relationship with each other.

Inga had explained to him as best as she could summarize what she knew thus far was that it was true that her parents had amicably divorced right after she had been born. The circumstances behind it were anything but amicable though. Janissaries were never supposed to marry or produce progeny, as per their ancient namesake. To be selected for one was the highest honor in service to the Federation. Her mother and father had defied that decree, though because of some unknown circumstance, her parents had been allowed to remain in the service.

Inga's mother had left for the PLANTs shortly thereafter, and around that same time, the new PLANT population laws had come into effect. That was how Andrew Barton's birth came about – Inga's mother apparently knew Hikaru Barton from long ago and asked him to be a donor so that she could remain living in the PLANTs without penalty. Yuki had thought it heartless to give birth to a child for the sake of fulfilling a ridiculous law, but Inga had corrected him on that. Andrew was loved by his parents, and stood to strengthen relationships between Earth and the PLANTs, should he ever choose to run for a PLANT Council office.

Daneel Barton, Hikaru's other Coordinator son via surrogate, was not directly related to Inga. Though, because both of Daneel's fathers were involved in the central politics of Orb via secretary to the Chief Representative and former guardsman, he stood a high chance of being elected as a Representative. That was, if the young man chose to run for office later in life. At once, Yuki finally understood just how incredibly complex the political web spun not only within the Aurelia-Korsakoff-Barton family was, but also with his own.

His parents, even Athrun, and those gathered on the floor of the bay, were titans in the political and military fields. They made the world as surely as they would be able to destroy it. Now, with the clear and present danger posed by the technopaths, Yuki felt as if he was not worthy of carrying on any of their legacies. He had not fought as all of them had fought, lost what they had lost, and persevered in the face of pure despair.

“Dad still won't talk to you either?” Lenore asked, as Yuki dragged his eyes from the awkward reunion down below and focused it back on his work. That question was directed at Nicolai, who silently shook his head.

It made Yuki sad, to see that his uncle had effectively shut out all but one other person in his life at the moment. He had to pin part of that on the circumstances that had come about though – no one expected a clone of Lenore Zala to have been created, much less the circumstances behind the stealing of genetic data that had been going on for the better part of twenty-five years. Not to mention that it seemed that L4 was where the clones seemed to have been growing.

Even he still couldn't believe that the Eurasian Federation had been preparing for a possible pandemic, though it seemed that none of them expected cloning to be the result of their careful monitoring. He also couldn't believe that his father and whoever this Myrdin person was, had specifically requested his mother and those Federation Janissaries with her, to pipe footage from wherever the facilities were on L4 to L5, and into the frequencies that the technopaths used.

It had given those in the PLANTs a chance to survive, a chance to fight back, but only his father and whoever Myrdin was, were two on L4. Two against overwhelming odds, and he didn't care how much awe and respect the Eurasian mobile suit, _Hyperion_ , commanded – two battery-powered mobile suits were still just that in the face of an extremely difficult enemy. _Strike Freedom_ and _Infinite Justice_ were gone – no one had nuclear-powered mobile suits anymore.

“These people, these enemies,” he murmured, “they're not Coordinators or Blue Cosmos. I think they just want to watch the world burn.”

“Yeah--” Nicolai began, but immediately fell silent as they all saw a flash of pink-white-purple clothing swiftly float by.

Yuki frowned in concern as he saw his mother stop rather suddenly at the edge of the cockpit entrance to the bright red mobile suit, named _Savior_. He couldn't hear what his mother was saying to Athrun, but it was clear that it was something urgent, as he saw Athrun scramble out of the cockpit. As the two soared back over towards the main walkway, he wanted to go after them, but knew that his intrusion would not be welcomed at the moment.

He glanced over to see that neither Nicolai or Lenore had moved either – they all wanted to find out what was happening, to help their parents in any way they could, but they all knew that this was a war that had never ended for them. All they could do was continue to survive and hope that whatever they did in the future, it would be enough to allow their parents to finally lay down their arms and rest.

~~~

Athrun turned the last corner down the halls of the _Archangel_ and slowed down as he approached the entrance to the medical area. His cold anger had slowly gave way to trepidation, filling him ever since Lacus had suddenly appeared and called him out of _Savior_ 's cockpit. Most of the crew of the _Eternal_ were almost fully recovered from their injuries and had been helping the crew of the _Archangel_ , though only two of their comrades remained in critical condition. Thus the bay was nearly empty, since the Eurasian Federation soldiers had been removed from the ship after the technopaths' retreat.

The chief medical officer of the _Archangel_ , a young Coordinator man about the same age as the pilot of the mobile suit _Albion_ , greeted him at the entrance. Athrun saw beyond the officer, that a privacy curtain had been drawn at the bed where the clone of his mother laid. He moved to go towards her, but was stopped when the doctor stepped in front of him.

“I need to warn you, Commander,” the officer said in a cautious tone, “that even with the files that Dr. Anandi sent me, I don't know what's causing her rapid aging. I can't reverse it. I don't know if she'll recognize you, know what she's doing here, or even remember what happened. Everything points to rapid acceleration of dementia.”

“I still want to see her,” he said after a moment.

The chief medical officer of the _Hemingray_ had ran a full exam on the clone of his mother, just to be sure that she wasn't a carrier of any known diseases. While his mother was cleared, the doctor could not confirm whether or not she was actually the clone of Lenore Zala, due to Nyabrius 13's destruction. Athrun's blood sample had been matched with mitocondrial DNA markers, but that was where the similarities ended between him and the clone of his mother.

The telomeres within his mother were shortened considerably, and the doctor had declared that by all rights, she should not have looked as young as she should have. Something was keeping her youthful and athletic, and that was when the doctor realized that there were absolutely no markers of genetic enhancements usually seen within Coordinator DNA. The mitrocondrial match was only that – a match, but only because the doctor had stripped all enhancements to Athrun's DNA to get the base markers. The clone of his mother was strangely, a Natural.

Athrun had agreed to allow the chief medical officer of the _Archangel_ to take a look at the clone of his mother, hoping that this oddity was not a sign of things to come. While he still puzzled over at the fact that both he and Korsakoff had been stuck with chips that neurologically affected them to the point of belief, it was the clone of Cagalli that worried him the most. Her behavior, her physical appearance, everything about her screamed at him to be cautious, as if she was a very real threat to not only him, but others.

He had not told anyone else about Cagalli, and it seemed that Korsakoff had not either. He didn't know why the ZAFT operative-turned-Janissary kept silent, but he was grateful for that silence. What happened at Nyabrius 13 and within Matrius 3 only helped serve fuel for the anger that drove him, sharpened his senses, and focused him.

The doctor stepped to the side and allowed him through. Athrun approached with a sense of unease, but sat himself down on the stool next to the bed. Drawing back the curtain just enough to see her face, his jaw tightened at the sight that laid before him. Only a few hours ago, he remembered seeing his mother on the _Hemingray_ , unconscious, but vibrantly youthful. He had only imagined what exactly Korasakoff had to have done to defeat her in hand-to-hand combat.

Now, she was skeletal, with wrinkles and liver spots lining her face. Her hair was no longer the dark blue color he was so used to seeing, and was stark white. Her eyes were open and moving around, but it was clear that she wasn't aware that he was there. He could see her lips move ever so slightly, but could not hear what she was muttering to herself. It was pitiful to even look at her, and had she been hooked up to a life support system of sorts and not just the monitors geared towards monitoring vitals, he would have at least shown some mercy and told the doctor to disconnect the system.

However, he didn't get a chance to say a word or even call out to her to see if she would respond to him when she suddenly buckled, sending beeping alarms sounding into the air. For one brief moment, she arched, as if she were having a seizure, and the next moment, she went completely still and limp.

The alarms had also died into a monotone flatness that was quite familiar to his ears, even though he had not heard such a tone in thirteen years. He took one shuddering breath after another, staring at the body. He could not believe that someone would do such a monstrous thing, and add on top of that, some sort of rapid aging. It was completely inhumane.

“I'm sorry, Commander,” the doctor quietly said. “What would you like to do with the body?”

The tears would not come, and neither the grief-stricken feeling that he had almost expected to fall upon him as he stared at the unmoving body of the clone. He was acutely aware that the doctor had turned the monitors off, and had also leaned in to close the clone's eyes. It was strange, that he was so aware of what was going around him, that he realized he barely remembered anything that had happened to him in the days that he had been wrapped upon a fog upon Cagalli's death.

Why was it so strange to him, now? All he could feel was just the ice-cold ocean of anger lapping its waves within him, ready to be mercilessly unleashed when he next met the enemy. Whatever trepidation he had felt earlier was completely gone. He had no answer to his own question and when the grief still did not fall upon him, he took a deep breath and slowly stood up. He turned to face the doctor and did not miss the rather surprised look flash across the doctor's expression.

“Lenore Zala died twenty-six years ago,” he simply stated and walked away, pausing only once at the entrance to turn slightly back. “Her body was never recovered. Let this one rest with the others here in the Debris Belt.”

* * *

_Hours Later, at the L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

There were rows upon rows of inert and inactive vats in the darkened facility that he and Canard slowly traveled through. Unlike the previous times, Canard was deliberately checking each and every vat, making sure that it was indeed, inactive. Kira didn't question his methodology, but neither did his brother offer to even tell him what exactly he was verifying. Thus, he had been left to just follow him.

They had rested for a few hours, though the rest that Kira got was uneasy and almost sleepless. Even with his brother sitting against the wall next to him, keeping watch, it was harrowing to even try to fall asleep there. However, during his turn to keep watch, he had seen his brother easily fall asleep – and wondered just what the hell the scientists had put Canard through for their tests for him to easily fall asleep in such a frightening, eerie place such as this.

Now, as they moved further, he did wonder just how long it had taken Canard to find him in the past. Had the scientists ordered his brother to go vat by vat and kill selections of his brother and sisters just to see if he would comply? Based upon his brother's words, it seemed that Canard's mercy towards him long ago had resulted in punishment. It would certain explain his actions at the moment – the careful checking of the vats, even the opening of the small slat-windows that allowed them to peer into the cylinder that held goopy, amniotic-like fluid.

Entering a new chamber, Kira found that it was the same as the others, and as he shined his flashlight this way and that. There was nothing in this area to suggest that anything was active. Yet another dead end—or not. “Canard?” he whispered, as he saw his brother leave the slide door open on the nearest vat.

With an indirect flashlight shining into the vat, Kira peered over and saw that something small and tiny was floating in the fluid. “What the hell...” he murmured. He didn't know how deep they were inside of this darkened place, but this was the first time they had finally seen _something_ in one of the hundreds of vats they had checked.

“Check the others,” he heard Canard say as he saw him stick the flashlight in his mouth for a moment before swinging the rifle he held back, so that he had both hands free.

Kira went down the row, opening each observation window, as he heard the tapping of Canard's fingers on the keypads that would hopefully bring up an interface they could read through. He didn't know if Hibiki was monitoring their progress, but what he was seeing within these vats was extremely disturbing. There was no indication of power or anything of the sort keeping the embryos alive, but he hoped that whatever his brother was doing--

“I'm in.”

He turned back from where he was to see Canard's face lit up by the pale blue light of a monitor shining forth, but nothing else around him seemed to activate. Returning to where he was, he took a quick look around, shining his flashlight into the distance as far as he could. There was still nothing that approached them, but he still did not holster his gun and only lowered it.

“All right, Hibiki,” he heard Canard mutter, “Let's see what fresh hell you've conjured up this time.”

~~~

_Meanwhile, Near the L4 Cluster..._

 

“ _Savior_ , launching!”

At nearly the same time, Athrun heard his daughter call out her launch sequence with a sharp, “ _Sentinel_ , taking off!”

The two ships and their squadrons of mobile suits and mobile armors were still a little ways away from the main bulk of of the enemy that was gathered at L4. However, after _Vanguard_ had fired up its IFF with the improvements integrated from the former OS of _Savior_ , they had noticed that the enemy fleet was not moving as close to L4 as they had expected them to. It seemed that the enemy mobile suits and fleet were stationed at the peripheral of the cluster.

That was when the decision had been made to launch both _Savior_ and _Sentinel_. Those were the two fastest mobile suits they had in their squadron, with _Savior_ being a sister-mobile suit of sorts to the _Sentinel_. It's arrogantly lofty name aside, the mobile suit had improved weapons capabilities, along with the speed, and also had a cloaking module. It seemed as if the technopaths had stolen _Sentinel_ 's specifications and built _Savior_ as a direct challenger. The only difference between the two was the fact that _Savior_ had one additional feature that gave it even more speed than _Sentinel_.

Athrun flipped the switch at the ends of his throttles, triggering the complete transformation of _Savior_ from mobile suit into mobile armor mode. In this mode, its speed was increased in a surprisingly efficient manner that didn't drain the batteries powering it. But the mirage colloid was completely useless, even when he was not phase-shifted. Though _Infinite Justice_ had been fitted with a mirage colloid before he had taken it back in time, he wasn't entirely used to operating with one during battles, and thus had removed the unit.

The unit had then been installed on the shuttle that was to carry a strike team into the heart of L4 to rescue Kira and the Janissary codenamed Myrdin. While the _Archangel_ and _Hemingray_ and their squadrons would distract and keep the enemy occupied, it was up to the team in their mirage colloid shuttle to get in, get the two out, and destroy the facilities if possible. It would have been better to wait for reinforcements to arrive for the strike team to do such a thing, but Yzak, Captain Ramius, he had a feeling that their 'grace' period would not last long.

“They're still in the same holding pattern,” he heard Nicolai state over the battle com frequency. _Vanguard_ was still nestled within the _Archangel_ 's bay, but was active until the need for it to come out to battle was given. It was imperative that they keep _Vanguard_ powered through the ship as long as possible, since the battle data they received from it would be vitally important. With the _Eternal_ destroyed, _Vanguard_ was the only one they could rely on to get as accurate information about enemy movements.

“Nothing to indicate that they've spotted us yet,” Nicolai continued to say.

“ _Savior_ , _Sentinel_ , begin your run,” Ramius stated a moment later. There was the unspoken indication that the strike team's shuttle had launched with those orders. “Good hunting.”

Athrun accelerated off towards the nearest cluster of mobile suits, keeping his distance as much as possible as he did a reconnaissance run. He didn't have the sensors of _Meridian_ , nor the IFF of _Vanguard_ , but he did have sharp eyes. The mobile suits began to respond to his not-quite threatening buzz, firing up their engines from sitting in static. He also saw a couple of things glinting off an old, large floating debris from one of the damaged colonies about five hundred meters or so away from the enemies closest to him.

He grimly smiled to himself. It was interesting, since the debris was completely carbon-scored by either fire or old weapons fire being exchanged by bandits, that there should be some things glittering off of it. Keying the battle com, he said, “ _Archangel_ and _Hemingray_ , there's a mine field preventing them from approaching L4.”

He received an acknowledgment from Yzak and Ramius before another voice sounded over a private channel, saying, “Looks like our two boys got a little happy with the decorations on L4. Randomized festive tree décor, _Savior_?”

“Possibly,” he confirmed over the channel, understanding Korsakoff's question about just how spaced out the mines were. While she was not the pilot of the cloaked shuttle, she was the only one who could probably program and sustain an encrypted channel to a mobile suit for a few minutes before the technopaths could intercept it. “More like rat's nest or spiderweb.”

“Dock on my zenith side. I can get you in,” he stated a moment later, narrowing his eyes slightly as he slowed his forward speed, just as he saw the first wave of enemy mobile suits begin responding in earnest to the deployment of the squadrons in full. He knew that he should stay out here, fighting with the others, but neither could he not help Kira wherever he was on L4. He trusted the strike team to do their job, but this was Kira...

“Copy,” Korsakoff stated, her voice extremely tinny and static-filled.

A few moments later, Athrun felt and heard something ping throughout his mobile armor before a caution popped up on his screen. He waited a few moments more, allowing the cloaked shuttle to get a better grip on the top part of his mobile armor, and for the mobile armor squadron to also deploy from the _Archangel_. Keying the battle frequency, he said, “ _Archangel_ , _Savior_ has have a special delivery to make to L4. We'll see if the bastards bite.”

Before Ramius or the other pilots could voice their protest, he gunned the engines of _Savior_ in mobile armor mode to the fullest. The inertia compensators indicators on his HUD stayed green, though he knew that the compensators within the shuttle were probably already red-lined. Still, he charged straight through the lattice of enemy mobile suits. He could hear no squawking of interference within his com channels as he zipped around them, headed straight for the minefield.

He killed all coms since the channel open to _Vanguard_ used an encrypted variant of the techopaths' frequency. His eyes quickly searched around as he punched the throttles and stomped on the pedals to maneuver his mobile armor through the maze. He recognized the seemingly random pattern that the mines had been placed at. It was exactly the same kind of pattern he had seen once before – when about a year ago, one of the Junk Guild's personnel had laid claim to a particular object within the Debris Belt, and did not want anyone else to take it.

Athrun was quite sure that this Janissary named Myrdin was the same asshole in the Junk Guild who had done such a thing that time, though now it was at L4. In addition, it seemed that someone had coded into the mines, the com frequency that the technopaths used to either talk with each other or control their mobile suits. Either way, it silenced the bastards and gave the _Archangel_ and the others a chance to force them to fly closer to L4. It also meant that if the fighting dragged on, eventually, someone was going to trigger the mines.

Back then, he had been the only one to successfully navigate into the claimant area of that Junk Guild personnel. If he remembered correctly, there was only one way in and out now – and it was an extremely tricky route. He had to zip through the route fast, to prevent the enemy from finding out what exactly it was, and thus throttled his engines accordingly. Turning at the last possible moment for each area he passed through, he made sure to double back at times, hoping that it would lower the chances of the enemy mobile suits successfully following him in.

When he finally cleared the minefield, he immediately headed towards Mendel. As soon as he slipped into the colony, he activated the com channels again. Static greeted his ears, but then it finally localized into Korsakoff saying, “We're all fine, if you're done with your rollercoaster ride, Zala.”

“See anything at Mendel?” he curtly asked.

“Nothing so far,” she answered, as he peered out and saw nothing but rubble and debris. Taking another pass, he finally flew out of the colony and onwards to a half-completed torsional one.

Just as he was about to fly past the entrance, something strange glinted off the starboard side of his cockpit. He turned slightly, flew closer to the incomplete colony, and saw two mobile suits sitting near the edge of the unfinished section. The first one was a profile he did not recognize at all, the second was most definitely _Strike_ , except outfitted with more armaments than he remembered it leaving the _Archangel_ with.

“ _Hyperion_!” came William Aurelia's exclamation over the com.

Gunning the engines, he turned and flew towards the two mobile suits, but they remained inert. As he flew further into colony, he could see small evidences of a firefight that had gone on – and dead bodies everywhere. “Detach and land, strike team,” he ordered.

A few moments later, another ping echoed throughout his cockpit and he gave the shuttle a few seconds to move away before landing his mobile armor. There was gravity here but no oxygen, and that worried him. Triggering an encryption key that had been rigged to detonate the mobile armor if one did not input the correct code, he hoped that it was enough to prevent any enterprising technopaths down here from hijacking his mobile suit.

Popping open the cockpit, he reached back and grabbed the extra set of weapons he had tossed into the back out of sheer habit. Hopping down, he landed on the ground without a sound and hurried over to the strike team emerging from their uncloaked shuttle that was parked in the shadow of the mobile suit named _Hyperion_. Worry clawed at him, as he hoped that he and the strike team were not too late.

~~~

“How could they?!” Kira said out loud as he took a step back from the terminal and looked into the vat again before looking at the terminal's display again.

He could not believe his eyes, but it was all there – the painstaking research done, the development, and even the trials completed. This entire vat area contained the embryo-clones of Cagalli. Dr. Hadrian not only stole his sister's genetic data, but had given it to her compatriots in the PLANTs for them to come up with 'solutions' to a problem that she thought Humanity faced at the moment.

It was a population crisis that the peace that currently existed between Earth and the PLANTs could not resolve. The war would inevitably start again, and the only way that Hadrian thought it could be solved was through a systemic elimination of elements that were deemed undesirable.

In other words: a carefully administered pandemic that would wipe out nearly sixty percent of Earth's population, and forty percent of all Coordinators. It would have forced both Naturals and Coordinators to work together to survive. The most frightening thing was, that in lieu of the asteroids smashing into Earth to trigger such a devastation, the virus had been successfully created.

Through trial and error, the cloned scientists here on this particular half-complete colony had tested everything they could on the cloned embryos of Cagalli. That was what this particular vat facility was. Not only were the embryos considered failed, they had been heavily experimented on, using different techniques and strains for each embryo. Kira could feel his stomach churn, but nothing came up – he couldn't vomit even if he wanted to.

“I see that you finally found the objective,” a voice that he had not heard in a long time stated from behind them.

Both Kira and Canard immediately turned around, guns whipped up and pointed in front of them, but neither of them fired. In fact, both of their hands shook slightly at the sudden lighting of the chamber, illuminating not only all the vats, but everything else within. The person who had spoken those words had entered from the other side of the chamber, but he was not alone. There was a young girl not older than thirteen years of age quietly standing beside him.

“Cagalli,” Kira whispered, his voice nearly cracking as he said his sister's name, somehow managing to tear his eyes away from her and looked up to the man standing beside her. The man looked no older than he remembered seeing him as he had helped him back to the _Archangel_ , wounded from the firefight at Mendel. “And... how... Mu LaFllaga...”

“That,” he heard Canard say, the tip of his rifle shaking slightly, horror etched across his expression, “that man is not LaFllaga... He's Prayer Reverie.”

 

~*~*~*~

 


	14. Chapter 13: Memories' Edge

**Chapter 13: Memories' Edge**

_C.E. 96, L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

“Hemingray Squadron, direct all forward missiles towards Sector Twenty-Four,” Lacus stated as soon as she saw what _Vanguard_ was attempting to do via the orders that Nicolai was issuing to the mobile suits.

The _Archangel_ rocked again as it was impacted by close explosions that had been shot down at the last minute from those at the weapons control platforms. While it would have been useful for _Vanguard_ to take control and issue orders to the _Hemingray_ and _Archangel_ 's mobile armor squadrons, the usual numbers were bolstered by additional forces. ZAFT could only spare six additional mobile armors within their squadron of twelve already, while the Eurasian Federation added seven of their own to the seven of the eight that _Archangel_ carried. That eight pilot had died during the Heliopolis II battle, and thus necessitated the uneven addition of pilots from the Federation. It was strictly to ensure that each pilot had a wingman.

On her tactical screen, Lacus saw the speedy _Sentinel_ working in tandem with _Albion_ and _Buster_ , trying to force a stubborn section of the technopath force towards L4. As Murrue issued more orders to fire Helldarts to intercept another attempt by two of the various ships that belonged to the enemy, she saw Archangel Squadron split off into pairs to attempt to disable a couple of the enemy ships.

It was purely due to the fact that _Hemingray_ 's mobile armor squadron was comprised of Coordinators that she had the squadron go after mobile suits, rather than the enemy ships. They had faster reaction times than the joint Natural-Coordinator squadron of the _Archangel_. That was not to say that there was more danger of Hemingray Squadron being destroyed, by the mobile suits – both had equal risks. However, they were only so much of a vanguard force to hold the enemy at L4.

Taking a quick glance over towards the mobile suit statuses, she could see that the battery powers for most of them were still in the green. Checking the clock for rendezvous with the Lunar fleets, there was not enough time. At the rate they were fighting, barely making a dent into their objective of pushing the enemy forces towards the mines of L4, the batteries on the mobile suits would not last. Neither would the missiles that the two squadrons carried.

Still, they had to try – they had to hold their ground; they could not let these people who sought to destroy all of them, win.

Proximity alarms suddenly blared across the command deck, as Lacus saw warnings pop up on her screen. Those warnings and the alarm were silenced as fast as they had sounded. She immediately looked up and out of the viewport of the Archangel to see streaks of missiles stream directly across their bow, and covering nearly the entire length of the spread of the technopath force. The missiles missed all allied mobile suits and armors, winding their way around them before impacting their targets.

The bright bloom of explosions glittered in space before them, as a familiar voice sounded cut into the surprised chatter over the battle com, saying, “Nothing like a war to bring old rivals and enemies together to fight against an even bigger threat!”

A small smile appeared on her face as she heard the cheers sound all over the command deck from the various officers. Even Bartfeld and DaCosta, both of whom were manning the encryption for their communications frequencies were grinning. “Copy and thanks for the assistance Lowe,” she heard Murrue state. “It's good to see both the Junk Guild and Serpent's Tail working together again.”

“That and I'm here to find out what Canard did with all of our hard-earned salvaged weaponry,” the leader of the Junk Guild chuckled as the various mobile suits and armor of the combined forces blew past them, firing into the mass of enemies and revitalizing the fight. “The idiot took all of our mines with him... but hmm, I think it's been put to good use here.”

Lacus kept silent about the revelation of at least the name of the person that Kira had contacted to travel with him at L4. Whether 'Canard' was a surname or given name, she didn't know, but put it to the side. She keyed the com again and began redirecting both Archangel and Hemingray Squadrons towards other targets.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

 

“What the hell kind of place is this?” Athrun heard Aurelia mutter through the coms, as the last of the strike team stepped out Their flashlights attached to the top of their weapons swept this way and that, trying to find a light source or something that they could activate power in this vast chamber. All they saw was rows after rows of giant, squat metal cylinders that were at least one-and-a-half persons wide.

The entrance they had initially found proved to be useless, with whatever had been done to it sealing off the airless environment above ground. Fortunately, the integrated chip that both he and Korsakoff had been struck with earlier had been successfully integrated into a data pad that allowed them to find a secondary entrance. They were aware that their usage of the chip could possibly bring ground reinforcements with them, but considering just how empty the surface looked, Athrun highly doubted that there were any more enemy ground troops.

“There's air,” Korsakoff stated as Athrun saw out of the corner of his eyes, her lifting of her face plate slightly after glancing down at the chip-enhanced data pad in her hand. “Stale, but clean.”

“Spread out,” he said, cracking open his own faceplate. “Listen for anything that might tell us where to go. This place must be at least three kilometers big, considering how far the other entrance is, to this entrance.”

Silently, the members of the strike team, crept in different directions. Athrun kept his rifle up, carefully sweeping left and right as he made his way towards what looked to be an entrance to another area. One of the other strike team members flanked him as he approached and swept his flashlight into the divide. He could not see anything, but neither could he hear any sound.

Stepping across the threshold, he stepped over to the side as he panned his flashlight up and down. This area looked the same as the previous one, and he could just barely make out yet another entrance at the far end of it. Just how many of these places did they need to sweep through to find Kira and this Myrdin person?

Just as he was about to let loose a noise of frustration, a guttural scream seemingly echoed from the far side of the current chamber he and the others were filtering into. It sounded like someone was being tortured, and not in the immediate vicinity of where they were. All pretense of stealth was dropped as Athrun immediately ran towards the sound, hoping and praying that it had not been Kira who had made such a noise.

~~~

The hair on the back of Kira's neck was raised as the clatter of Canard's rifle to the floor was not heard over the absolutely agonizing howl that issued from his lips. His brother sunk to the floor, clutching both sides of his helmet, face clearly etched in pain. Kira did the one thing he could do – he stilled himself as much as possible and emptied the last few bullets in the single clip of his gun right at the man who held the face of Mu LaFllaga – or whoever he was.

His eyes widened in absolute surprise as the blond-haired man seemingly dodged every single shot. He knew that he wasn't a great of a shot, but it had to be impossible at this range to even just move out of the way of a speeding bullet. Yet he saw the man fluidly move just enough to allow the bullets to speed on by and hit the wall on the far side. No one could move that fast, and know where the bullets were going to go...

“Even after spending so much time with my predecessor, you never did learn to protect your mind, did you, Canard?” the man asked, a cruel smile on his face. He was ignoring Kira and instead, stared at Canard who was kneeling and almost curled up forward on the floor.

“Get... out....of my.... mind!” Canard grunted, his breathing clearly labored as he continued to remain curled on the floor.

“Every precious, treasured memory--” the man began.

“Stop!” Kira yelled, pleading. “Whatever you're doing, please stop hurting him!” He thought the technopaths only affected electronic systems, not biological ones. Whatever this man was, he was most definitely not a technopath of sorts, even if he was a clone of Mu... or this Prayer Reverie... or whatever he was. But if Canard was the only one affected, then why wasn't he?

“Intimate, private, life and a brief few years of happiness where there had been none--” the clone continued.

Curling his gloved hands into fists, Kira took the final option he had left. He charged in, intending to fight the man hand-to-hand, though before he could pull his right fist back and land a punch on the clone, the clone of Cagalli immediately stepped forward. Kira couldn't halt his momentum, as his fist flew in, but far be it that he hit the clone of his sister, she had merely raise a single open palm up and grabbed his incoming blow. Halted and unable to move, due in part to the immense pressure she was putting through his gloved hand just by squeezing it, he tried to get loose.

“Don't, Kira Yamato,” the clone of his sister softly stated in a monotone voice. “Prayer Reverie is also infected as I am, except with a variant that is deadly to all Coordinators, including both of you.”

~~~

_C.E. 74, Orb, Earth..._

 

“Kira!”

Kira waited until the door to Cagalli's office was firmly closed before approaching his sister who had stepped out from behind her desk to greet him. Embracing and holding her tight, he couldn't help but have his spirits lifted slightly. Letting her go after a moment, she gestured for them to sit at the couch, and did so. Placing the data pad with the latest updates on the Heliopolis II Project, and the hardcover book he had also brought with him down, he couldn't help but laugh as Cagalli poured tea for both of them.

“And when did you learn to do this?” he asked, watching half in amusement, half in fascination at her expertise in setting out the delicate teacup on the saucer towards him without spilling a drop of tea.

“Yuuna likes to unwind after a long day with tea. It's the least I can do for him,” she answered.

“Ah,” he said, but did not voice his opinion on the matter.

Not that he had already told Cagalli his thoughts on her marriage, but he felt that it was best not to interfere any further on that particular aspect. The marriage was political, and as much as he didn't want to understand that, he did. It had been about five months since his sister had married Yuuna Roma Seiran, and the last time he had seen her in person was on her wedding day. She had thanked him for not trying to bail her out of the marriage in a mobile suit, as she feared that he would try to do.

He took a sip of his tea as Cagalli did the same before placing her cup back down and moved the data pad off of the hardcover book. It was rare to publish books and the like using paper, but this particular one was special. He nodded for her to take it and she gingerly did, bringing it to rest on her lap. Opening it up he couldn't help but smile as he remembered the numerous silly messages that his classmates had written in his yearbook. It was a pity that the copy the Lunar Preparatory Academy had tried to send to Athrun was returned, due to the embargo that had been imposed on the PLANTs in early C.E. 70. Athrun would never receive his copy now, due to the fact that he had been declared dead in the war. 'Alex Dino' certainly had not attend the Academy.

Cagalli silently flipped through the pages, looking at the various classmates in his graduating class. Though it had only been less than three years after the war, Kira did wonder how many of his classmates were still alive, and just how many of them had fought in the war. Some were from the PLANTs, like Athrun, while the majority of them were from Earth. The Academy's demographics was a mix of Naturals and Coordinators, though most of the Naturals who attended were elite and wealthy students from the Eurasian Federation, East Asian Republic, and Orb.

Kira had always felt out of place, not because of his genetics, but because his parents certainly were not wealthy like most of the students – including Athrun. He had attended the Academy solely on scholarship.

When his sister finally turned to the final page of the senior class profiles, Kira saw her pause. The students were listed in alphabetical order by last name, and therefore, his and Athrun's student profiles would be the last two. He heard Cagalli giggle when she saw their yearbook pictures. Whereas Kira loved the uniform they wore, Athrun looked absolutely miserable in his, preferring to not wear the uniform whenever possible. The formality of the pictures dictated that they wear the uniforms though.

“Yeah, Athrun hated the uniforms,” he said, putting his cup down. “He constantly got in trouble because he came to school wearing casual clothes all the time. I started to keep an extra one in my locker to help him out.”

“He was a troublemaker?” she asked, looking slightly incredulous.

“We both were,” he answered, grinning. “I think we bailed each other out of so many situations that even the principal started to expect it to happen whenever one of us got in trouble. But being the top two students in the school did help ease the punishments handed down to us. That and Athrun's mother was quite scary whenever she was truly angry at whatever we've done.”

Cagalli snorted in laughter, shaking her head as she moved on from the profiles and onto the Academy life sections. “Ha!” she said as she stared at one of the poll results, “it figures you were voted 'Most Outgoing'.” She flipped a few more pages in before looking up and quietly said, “Athrun's not returning any of my calls or messages, Kira. But you probably already knew that, didn't you?”

He shook his head, but was not as surprised as he knew he should have been. “No,” he answered. “I didn't know that.”

“I...” she began as she closed the book and rested her forearms on top of it, “I just want to tell him sorry. I said it over the phone, on my messages, but I don't even know if he's reading or listening to them. I know I hurt him, Kira. Is there anything, short of scheduling a meeting on my public calendar, that I can do? To at least reconcile this?”

Were it any other person who said those words and were it any other friend of Kira's who had been emotionally hurt, he would have advised differently, but this was between his sister and his best friend. He hated to see the rift between them grow, yet he knew that it was up to Athrun to decide for himself if he wanted to let things remain the way it was. Kira could not—would not force the issue for either of them.

Instead, he folded his hands together, resting them on his lap as he glanced at the yearbook before looking over at Cagalli, saying, “Athrun had been hurt in a similar manner before by a student at the Academy. That person had cut an emotional wound so deep that it took a long while to heal. It was a long road back to amicable relationships between him and that person. You've done the same, and I can't tell you how long it will take, even if you try to force the issue by scheduling a meeting on your public calendar.”

“Do you know... do you know how Athrun and that other student repaired their relationship?” she hesitatingly asked, looking remorseful. “Is it possible for me to? I still love him, Kira.”

His heart ached in sympathy at just how miserable she looked. Taking another look at the closed yearbook, he took a deep breath and said, “What I can tell you is that if you do meet with him face to face, say these words to him: although we were always together and are now separated, I will always love you, even if you no longer love me.”

“And if truly doesn't... love me anymore?” she asked.

“You're my sister, Cagalli,” he answered, drawing her into a tight hug. “You will never be alone. I promise.”

He heard her sniffle slightly as she returned the embrace before letting go. Sitting back, he saw Cagalli sniffle again, but did not reach over to pull the data pad over. Instead, she opened up the yearbook again to a random page that just happened to be the class picture that the school photographer had had the entire student body sit for. It had been taken just a month after Athrun had been abruptly pulled out of school because of Patrick Zala's new position. He watched as she continued to flip through the pages, smiling slightly at the various funny pictures that was spread out, depicting life for the students.

Finally, she turned to a particular poll result page and Kira saw a faint, almost bittersweet smile quirk up on the edges of her lips as she traced a finger over the words on the page [Best Class Couple]. “You never got a chance to say those words to him, did you, Kira?” she asked after a moment, continuing to look at the photograph that was taken quite whimsically and unexpectedly on that particular day.

He briefly looked away eyes crinkling slightly in regret before looking back to see her sister looking at him. “No,” he answered, shaking his head slightly. “By that time, it was too late – war changed both of us. For better or for worse, neither of us can go back to those halcyon days. You still have a chance to make it right, Cagalli. Don't waste it.”

~~~

_C.E. 96, L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

A piercing headache seared across Kira's conscious mind as he blinked and stared up at the young clone of his sister. Sinking to his knees, he jammed his free hand against his helmet-covered head as he tried to blink away the strange halo of lights that had suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. “...make it right...don't waste it...” he thought he heard her mutter as she abruptly let go of his hand.

He dropped to the ground on all four, his strength seemingly leaving him as he fell over onto his side and tried in vain to get up again. Canard's labored breathing behind him echoed in the silent chamber. All he could see were the vats and feet of both the clone of Mu or whoever he was, and Cagalli – and even that was starting to swim into a hazy fog.

_Bang! Bang!_

Gunshots from the far side rang out, as Kira blearily looked but could not focus on who exactly had arrived. He could hear muddled shouts and something hissing and slamming close before rapid footsteps on the walkways jarred him from where he was. A few moments or minutes, he couldn't tell, later, he was suddenly bodily picked up off the ground. A strong arm was slung under his shoulder blades and wrapped around him, hefting him up. His right arm was slung over equally sinewy shoulders.

He glanced over to see who had done such a thing, only to see that Canard had had had his face plate completely opaque and shut as he held him up. His eyes blurred again as the headache continued to pound throughout his skull, relentless in the drum beat that seemed to echo with his heart.

“Take him,” he heard his brother say over the com, as he was handed over to someone else.

Opening his eyes that he did not realize he had closed as he felt himself being shuffled and transferred to someone else. “Kira,” he heard someone familiar call out his name. “It's going to be all right. Just hang in there, Kira!”

He tried to acknowledge the encouragement, tried to form words, but all he found that he could utter was a groan. He tried to push the headache away, along with the afterimages of stars popping in front of his eyes as he looked over to see that it was Athrun who was holding him up now. How his best friend had gotten here and what had happened was a completely mystery, but he felt _safe_. Though seeing that somehow his brain could not get his mouth to move or form coherent words, he forced himself to concentrate on what was happening before him.

“What's wrong with him?” he thought he heard a woman speak over the com.

“Yamato will recover,” he heard Canard say as Kira saw him walk forward, though he wasn't sure if it was still his mind feeling quite muddled that he thought he saw his brother wobble slightly. “Don't kill the clone of Attha yet.”

“Wasn't going to, Myrdin,” he heard a man's voice state as he saw beyond Canard that there were six men and women on the walkway. It was William Aurelia, whom he recognized because of his son's association with Inga Aurelia, who had spoken those words.

The man who was not-Mu was lying dead on the floor – a pool of blood surrounding him, having been shot multiple times from behind. Cagalli was standing at the edge of the pool of blood, looking eerily calm and composed. Kira didn't remember much, but what he did remember was the distinct reality that the not-Mu clone had dodged his bullets. How the hell was someone able to kill him?

“Kira,” he heard Athrun state in concern, and realized that he had stated that question out loud, even though he had absolutely no recollection of saying it.

“A consequence, or side effect, if you will, of the cloning experiments was the strange manifestation of a greater spatial awareness in the clones created,” he heard Canard quietly answer over the general frequency. “This clone of Prayer Reverie, or if you keep insisting, Mu LaFllaga, had the same abilities that I encountered during the war with the first Prayer. That spatial awareness manifested in an almost telepathic ability to dive into minds and 'talk' if you will. A new type of human.”

Kira saw him gesture to the dead body, saying, “All I had to do was hold him where he was. Distract him. You did so as well, by holding the clone of your sister in whatever memories she was extracting, though--” Canard crouched down face-to-face with the young clone “--it seems that you're not the only one she's extracted memories from. Am I right, Cagalli?”

Through hazy eyes, he saw her nod once before her eerie gaze snapped straight to Athrun. He could only imagine the memories that this strange clone of his sister had sifted through. He didn't even remember what she had taken from his own memories and felt oddly uneasy... as if he had been violated in a sense.

“Don't get near the body,” he cautioned, feeling Athrun stiffen slightly, most likely feeling as uneasy as he felt. “She said that Mu or whoever he is, was infected with a variant virus designed for Coordinators. Her's is a virus for Naturals.”

“But my mother... the clone of my mother stated that Cagalli was infected with a virus designed for Coordinators,” he heard Athrun state, shifting slightly. Kira tried to shift his weight back to his own two feet, but whatever the clone of his sister had done, had made him still too dizzy that he could not find his center of balance. He remained leaning on Athrun as he saw Canard stand up, hands gripping his rifle tightly once again.

“Myrdin,” Aurelia began. He could only assume that his brother's codename or whatever he was, associated with people who looked like they were wearing flight suits bearing the Eurasian Federation colors, was that. No wonder his brother had warned him not to trust anyone – the Eurasian Federation must have had some plan in the works that collided with the plans he, along with Lacus and Athrun, had made.

“Worst case scenario, we're all fucking infected right now,” he heard his brother caustically answer. “Best case, she's lying.”

“Would she—hey!” Kira began, stopping short of completing his protest as he saw Canard point his rifle right at Cagalli. Athrun had immediately raised his rifle, pointing it at Canard, while the other six Eurasian soldiers raised their weapons and pointed at both him and Athrun.

“The truth, clone,” Canard calmly stated to Cagalli. Kira saw the young clone blink once before Canard suddenly barked in bitter laughter. Still, his brother did not lower his rifle and asked, “Where?”

He saw Cagalli turn her head and looked towards a female Eurasian soldier before turning the opposite direct and pin her unblinking amber eyes on Athrun again. Canard followed her actions for a brief moment before lowering his rifle. Athrun kept his up for a moment longer before lowering it as well, though Kira saw him narrow his eyes slightly, waiting for the deception or trap to be sprung.

Had it been any other person, Kira would have thought him a madman, but as little as he knew of Canard in a personal sense, he understood enough to know that his brother had a sense of honor – even if it was quite twisted. “The inoculations were already delivered,” Canard simply stated. “She said that they were delivered via chip when both you, Zala, and you, Korsakoff, were captured on Nyabrius 13. Earth has already been infected by other agents.”

“The Blue Cosmos attack on Petersburg and the surrounding towns,” Aurelia spoke up in horror.

“But those chips--” the woman whom Cagalli had briefly pinned her eyes upon, Korsakoff, began but did not finish her sentence as something happened faster than any of them could react to and stop.

“Thank you, brother mine,” Cagalli stated just loud enough for them to hear, as she suddenly lunged forward, yanked Canard's rifle forward and out of his grasp, and wrapped her hands around the barrel and trigger.

“No!” Kira cried at the same time Canard swore and reacted by trying to jam his fingers between the housing and the trigger for the rifle. It was too late – Cagalli pulled the trigger.

The echo of the single rifle shot was seemingly louder than anything he had heard. Kira stared at the unmoving body of the clone that had been his sister. Though her eyes remained open and glassy, there seemed to be an odd expression of peace surrounding those eyes. He didn't understand why she would kill herself now, but it was only when Canard reached forward to drag the rifle back while simultaneously reaching out to close Cagalli's eyes that he finally moved to stand on his own two feet.

Wobbling slightly as dizziness continued to affect him slightly, he placed a steadying hand on Athrun's arm as he heard Canard state in an utterly sincere tone, “I'm sorry. I failed.”

“No,” he answered, shaking his head slightly even though it caused him to feel a little more dizzy. “You didn't. You gave her peace. Mercy. A chance to confess. You didn't fail.”

For a brief moment, judging by the way he held himself, it looked as if Canard was about to lash out, but surprisingly said, “There's still one more I need to kill to finish this mission.”

“You're not carrying the burden alone,” he immediately stated, removing his hand from Athrun's arm and taking a couple of steps forward, causing Canard to turn slightly towards him. He knew who exactly his brother was talking about – Dr. Hibiki. Where the man was, none of them knew, but the last they left him was beyond this wretched place. “Remember, I called you here. This is my mission as well.”

The silence that stretched between them was uncomfortable, and even though Kira could not see into his brother's eyes through that polarized face plate of his, he could imagine his eyes meeting his own. He heard Athrun step up behind him, but did not turn to acknowledge his reassuring presence. Finally, his brother inclined his head slightly, saying, “Let's go.”

Gingerly stepping away from the pools of blood from the two dead bodies, Kira was handed a gun from Aurelia and accepted it before snapping shut his face plate. Even though he felt callous about it, it was useless to bury or move the cloned bodies of Cagalli or Mu LaFllaga. None of them knew if their infections were still active post-mortem, and there was no where to bury the bodies anyways.

The nine of them moved through the darkened chambers, swift and silent, though Kira kept near and behind Athrun most of the time. He carefully watched but did not emulate the smoothness of how his brother, along with the other Eurasian soldiers, slipped through alcove and shadows. He could see their silent hand gestures issuing curt orders, though occasionally, the woman named Korsakoff, gestured something different towards Athrun. He saw Korsakoff silently translate orders into ZAFT hand signals, remembering that Yzak Joule mentioning her name and former association with ZAFT during the briefing that felt like a life time ago.

They passed through the lab that separated the infernal incubator that had contained embryos of his sister and possibly more, from the similarly infernal but more brightly lit area. As they approached the section where there was the broken elevator shaft that he and Canard had initially entered through, both Canard and Korsakoff held up fists to halt all of them.

That was when the clicking and ratcheting sounds suddenly pierced the eerie silence, and not a moment later, he saw small circular doors fan open from the ground and walls, allowing automatic turrets to rise out of their hiding spaces. A buzzing sound, louder than a swarm of angry hornets filled the air as the machine guns began tracking their targets.

Kira was among those who dove behind the nearest large objects they could find, which were active vats. Bullets pinged off the vats, as the hissing sound and alarms of their covers being destroyed tried to compete with the machine gun fire. Instinct made him curl up more as he held his gun in between him, pointed up, hoping to catch a break in the automatic fire. He could see Aurelia and another of the strike team on his right side also scrunched up where they were and saw the sparks of the enemy gunfire ricochet off their covers – these vats were not going to last long against the pressure.

To his left was Athrun, separated further from him by the long walkway that bisected the area they had been walking through. Of Canard, he didn't know where his brother was, but could only hope to assume that he had gotten to safety, as did the others on the team. Ahead of him, across a few rows of vats, was the broken elevator, but behind them were the machine guns. He was sure that there was possibly some hidden mechanism or sensor of sorts that would trigger more defensive measures to rise up.

At once, he heard a strangled cry over the com and a body belonging to the strike team suddenly skidded to a halt, dead and peppered with bullets. Unfortunately, there was a grenade in the soldier's hand that already had the pin pulled – the soldier must have tried to lob the explosive towards one of the turrets but was killed in the process. The grenade rolled out of the soldier's hands and Kira's eyes widened--

He dove out of cover, just as the grenade exploded, sending him and a couple of others skidding forward, towards the elevator. Someone swiftly snatched him up off the ground and slid both of them into cover, this time more solid than the vats, as bullets shot up the floor where he had been laying. Slamming against the alcove wall that was to the right of the broken elevator, he saw that it was Canard who had saved him.

His brother didn't say a word over com and merely shook his head to tell him not to talk. It made sense, that there was a possible technopath controlling the machine guns, which explained the precision and the lack of chatter over the coms. Still, he had a feeling that the technopath controlling the weaponry could be the clone of Dr. Hibiki – he was the only person he and Canard had seen up until the sudden appearance of the others on the other side of the facility.

Canard silently held up two timed grenades, similar to the type that both of them had used on Mendel all those years ago, and indicated that he was going to blow out the doors to the elevator. It would vacate the entire place of oxygen. Placing those down, he then shoved the sniper rifle he had been carrying at him. Kira had never fired one before and tried to silently indicate that other than watching Athrun practice firing a similar rifle at one of Orb's rifle ranges long ago, he wasn't sure if he could cover his brother. However, Canard was having none of it and picked up the grenades again.

Having no choice, Kira adjusted the rifle, pressing the butt of it against the hollow between his shoulder and arm. He then carefully placed the end of the barrel against the side of the wall, just slightly above Canard's head. He would have to be quick about aiming and firing off a shot at the turrets.

As soon as his brother sprang out of cover, Kira swung out at the same time. Sighting the nearest turret that had tried to spin towards Canard, he fired off one quick shot. Luck was with him as his shot pierced the lower housing area of the turret, where critical electrical systems were, shutting it down for just a moment. At the same time, he saw the flash of two more muzzles firing at other turrets, and thought he saw Athrun and another member of the strike team attempt to take down two more. Several grenades flew into the air from others within the vat 'field', shattering another turret.

Letting loose another two bullets from the rifle as he sighted down again, knocking the barrels of a turret on the far side away. He then heard Canard shout over the com, “Fire in the hole!”

Immediately pulling back, he barely had time to brace himself against the wall when an explosion rocked the place. The howling wind buffeted him around as the air evacuated the entire facility. Clutching at the wall and digging his hands into it as much as his flight suit's gloves would allow him to, he gritted his teeth as he tried to prevent himself from being sucked out. While he would survive, it was the debris that was being lifted and sucked into the elevator's opening that concerned him the most. The force of the vacating air was enough to rip some of the nearest vats and turrets out of their housing, and they were already smashing into the elevator door and weakening the structure around it.

As sudden as the depressurization of the facility was, it abruptly stopped, dropping scraps of vats and turrets to the ground in a soundless clatter. Kira opened his eyes to see that his hands were wrapped around the steel bar of what was left of the section of the wall he had been braced against. Slowly letting go, he looked around, noticing that the rest of the undamaged turrets were not firing.

“All clear. We got the technopath bastard,” he heard Canard state over the com, and stepped out from where he was, seeing what was left of their team emerge from the half-wrecked area of the facility. He approached, gingerly stepping over the debris and approached Canard. His brother was standing near what looked to be a clearly bisected body mashed into the other debris at the elevator entrance that had been seemingly cut in half by the ripped off piece of a vat door.

“Who's that?” he heard Athrun question over the channel.

“Just a clone that shouldn't have ever fucking existed,” Canard answered, carelessly kicking the remains of the clone with his right foot.

“Dr. Ulen Hibiki,” Kira answered, glaring at Canard. Even in death, he felt that clone or not, some dignity would be in order. “Or at least his clone. The original died over four decades ago.”

Silence answered his statement before he felt Athrun put a reassuring and comforting hand on his shoulder and heard him say, “The battle's not over. We still have more to defeat up there, and a mine field to use.”

 

~*~*~*~

 


	15. Chapter 14: Fight for the Uncharted Future

**Chapter 14: Fight for the Uncharted Future**

_C.E. 96, L4 Colony Cluster..._

 

_Savior_ , in mobile armor mode, was already hovering in the airless environment when Athrun saw _Hyperion_ 's eyes snap and activate with a piercing bright green-yellow color. It phase-shifted into its armored mode and seconds later, _Strike_ was also activated with a flash of its yellow eyes. The shuttle that carried what remained of the strike team was cloaked again and attached to _Savior_. It would be up to him to fly the team out.

“I'm assuming that you figured out the maze based on what I did last year, Zala,” the voice of _Hyperion_ 's pilot, Eurasian Federation Janissary codenamed Myrdin, stated in a snarky tone over the localized com channel that connected the four vehicles together.

“Yeah,” he casually answered as he faced _Savior_ out towards space where he could see the distant flashes of light that indicated a fierce fight going on at the peripherals of the cluster. His assumption about _Hyperion_ 's pilot was correct – the man was a member of the Junk Guild. He was still curious as to how Kira had made this man's acquaintance and when. It was clear from both Kira and this man's actions during their run through the facility that the man had connections to the Mendel Project. Perhaps a former, but friendly scientist from the Project – similar to Kira's parents?

“Never did catch your name,” he continued, shaking his head slightly – given just how fast this man moved when planting the grenades to blow a hole into the elevator shaft earlier, the man had to be around his and Kira's age. Sixty or seventy-year-old Coordinators didn't have the severe aging factor that Naturals had, but neither were they at peak physical condition.

There was a bark of laughter over the com before the pilot stated, “Go ahead without me, _Strike_ and _Savior_ , my mobile suit's tunneling program found the gravity generators. Best that this place is destroyed now, just in case the mines don't do the job.”

There was a rather mad glee within the pilot's tone that Athrun heard, which caused him to question the sanity of the pilot. However, it was Kira who said, “Once Athrun and I fly out there, they'll know that we were successful. Regardless of the mines, they still come after--”

“I'm destroying this fucking place before they can salvage and start over again, Kira! Just go!” the pilot angrily stated, before a squeal tore through channel, indicating that the pilot had shut it off.

_You only have the Ultimate Coordinator and his failed byproduct of a brother to blame, for not destroying Mendel and the L4 cluster when they had the chance._

Athrun didn't know why, but the words from the clone of his mother suddenly popped into his thoughts as he realized something quite profound. Keying a private image com channel to _Hyperion,_ he muted all other voice-only channels for a moment and said, “You're a survivor of what Kira calls the 'Ultimate Coordinator' Project, aren't you?”

“I didn't expect anything less from you, Zala,” came the answer, though even with an image link, the pilot's faceplate was still polarized to the maximum. In a quieter, more calm tone, he heard him say, “I was old enough to know and understand what was happening. Kira wasn't.”

Athrun silently nodded, even as his heart felt heavy with what he was about to do. He didn't know Kira's older brother at all, and even with the impression he had gotten down in the facility, it was apparent to him that the man carried an enormous chip against the world on his shoulder. It was also clear to him that Kira had tried to befriend, and had tried to calm the man down a little from his volcanic anger and extremely curse-laden commentary. But Athrun knew what a soldier was like when he or she had lost all hope of living and just could not go on with life – he had been in those shoes before.

“I hope that you find something to live for,” he quietly stated before shutting the channel.

Before _Hyperion_ could fly off to go search for the generators, Athrun maneuvered _Savior_ to latch onto the shoulders of _Strike_. He forcibly dragged the mobile suit up and off the ground, pushing his engines to their fullest against the gravity. He heard Kira's protests over a private channel that his friend had opened to him, but did not answer as he sped away from the colony. From the strike team in their cloaked shuttle, there was silence.

Guiding _Strike_ away and into the maze of mines, he readied his two main plasma beam cannons as he saw the streaks of light coming from beam and missile fire being exchanged between the enemy and their allies become larger. Two additional ships were tagged on his IFF as he twisted and turned his way out of the mine field – the Junk Guild and Serpent's Tail were surprisingly here. The allied forces had managed to push the technopaths closer to the mines, but not enough that it would take out a good chunk of their forces.

Still he did not unmute the coms just yet, wanting to at least clear the edge of the field before anything happened. He did, however, start tracking for a good firing solution at the largest mass of enemies that he could find. Fortunately, it was directly ahead of him and he grimly smiled – his fingers on the triggers and ready to fire.

On the lower peripherals of _Savior_ 's screen, he could see movement from _Strike_ as it looked like Kira was pulling out two beam rifles that looked suspiciously like _Justice_ and _Freedom_ 's rifles. Salvage-wise, he supposed that it was probably salvaged from long ago. He distinctly remembered that both of them had given Cagalli and Lenore those rifles all those years ago during the asteroid drop battle, while they had stayed behind to stop the technopaths at the Moon.

Just as they cleared the last of the mines, he heard a ping echo throughout his cockpit – the cloaked shuttle had detached and was most likely flying as far and fast as it could away. Activating all coms, the linked battle com of their side of the forces fill his ears. The private channel to Kira was still open, but he didn't key it. Instead, he fired straight at the mass of enemy forces directly ahead of him, just as Kira let loose a flurry of missiles and lances of green bolts.

Punching through the hole made, he gunned the engines of _Savior_ to full, before the swarm of technopaths could react and latch onto him and Kira. Neither of them had the necessary shielding that a nuclear-powered mobile suit afforded now. Exclamations of surprise echoed across the coms at their sudden appearance, but the veteran pilots quickly took advantage of the situation. As soon as he cleared the enemy, he let _Strike_ go – just as an alert pinged across his screen.

Flipping _Savior_ around and back into mobile suit mode, he fired once again into the mass as he saw the remnants of an explosion deep within the cluster fade away. Pulling out his beam rifle, he continued to fire pulse after pulse into the enemy mobile suits. Enemy forces were also quickly moving towards the colonies, with some not even caring about the mine field and just charging in. It seemed that _Hyperion_ had indeed, found the generators and detonated the entire colony into atoms.

“This is _Hyperion_. Fire in the hole,” the voice of _Hyperion_ 's pilot crackled through the battle com, fuzzy and extremely tinny as Athrun realized that the pilot had also tapped into another frequency not used by the Alliance, but by the technopaths.

That was the only warning the allied forces received. Years and years of tightly honed reaction times made him trigger _Savior_ back into mobile armor mode and hastily grab _Strike_. Alarms blared throughout his cockpit as he pushed the engines beyond their limit to get out of the radius of the exploding mine field. He zoomed into the front lines of the allied forces, just as the explosions died and let _Strike_ go as he applied counter thrusters to halt his speedy escape. Both he and Kira had ended up near where _Duel_ and _Buster_ had been fighting.

Transforming back into mobile suit mode, Athrun turned to see that a good chunk of the enemy forces were being caught in the resultant explosions. The first voice to crackle over the briefly scrambled battle com was from Junk Guild's Lowe Guele, saying, “Oy, oy, oy! What the hell--”

“ _Hyperion_ , do you copy?!” Kira's desperate call over the battle frequency interrupted whatever else the leader of the Junk Guild was going to say. “Please! Answer me, Cana--”

“ _Savior_! _Strike_! Above you!” Nicolai's voice cut in.

Athrun stomped on the pedals as he yanked out his beam sabres – his beam rifle lost somewhere during the hasty retreat – and twisted _Savior_ out of the way, just as a hail of blue beams peppered the general area where he and the other three mobile suits were. Gunning his engines, he zipped straight towards a cluster of the remaining enemy mobile suits and ships that had not been destroyed by the mines. Dragging his sabres parallel to his flight path, he sliced two ships from bow to stern.

Behind him, _Strike_ flew near the explosions quite harmlessly as Athrun reversed and dove back towards him, seeing Kira pepper a few enemy mobile suits with the dual beam rifles and other weapons attach to _Strike_. There was a choppiness to Kira's flight pattern and shooting, and he could only imagine what his friend was going through. He knew that part of the despair that Kira was feeling was his fault – he had pulled him out of the colony against his will.

Still, he could not linger on assuaging Kira – there was a battle to be had and won. The afterimages of _Buster_ 's large beam cannon plowed into another cluster of mobile suits, though it missed two of the ships in the vicinity. _Duel_ had also fired several missiles to keep enemies from crowding around _Buster_.

He saw the enemy ships lock their weapons on them once again, faster than what was normal for as ship to do as a swarm of hybrid enemy mobile armors-suits tried to box all of them in. The battle frequency was crackling and hissing with interference as the technopaths deployed their one tactic that none of the allies had a chance to counter. The screen on his mobile suit remained steady – with the data from _Vanguard_ shielded from the interference that the technopaths were employing.

They had kicked the hornet's nest with the triggering of the mines, and even with a lesser force, they were still evenly matched against the enemy for now. Athrun quickly checked his suit's battery levels – he still had half-left, and if he fired his beam cannons again, that would drain it down to less than a quarter. Enough to hopefully allow him a few more kills via beam sabres, but not enough to be as speedy as he had been.

He still had to – had to try to make the shot count for as much as he could. Get rid of the support ships and the enemy mobile suits would not have a place to replenish or escape. The squadrons of mobile armors they had were trying their best to destroy the ships, leaving the mobile suits to battle against their kind, but even the technopath ships were a little too fast for the squadrons. He twisted and rolled _Savior_ , slicing his beam sabres across and under those mobile suits that got too close to him before peppering them with his CIWS.

“Kira!” he called out into the private channel. “The ships are a priority. I have one shot left with the plasma cannons.”

“I hear you,” Kira answered in a tight tone, though before either of them could implement a plan, seeing that neither _Vanguard_ or Lacus on board the _Archangel_ were directly issuing battle orders to them, two of the fifteen remaining enemy ships suddenly exploded.

A rather derisive yet chilling laughter made even more sinister by just how tinny it sounded, blasted over the battle com _and_ technopath frequencies. “Surprise, you cloned pieces of shit!” _Hyperion_ 's pilot declared not a moment later as the silhouette of the mobile suit emerged from the rapidly fading explosion.

There was a shimmering, white-glowing shield of sorts that surrounded _Hyperion_ , and it took Athrun a few moments to realize why it looked so familiar. “Artemis shield system...”

~~~

Kira could not help but gape at what exactly his brother had around his mobile suit. Canard had somehow managed to condense the shield system of the formerly near-impenetrable fortress to work with a mobile suit. It had taken years for him and other colony engineers to reverse engineer and build the shielding on Heliopolis II to work with the colony. Forget the mere thought of dodging technopaths during the fight to stop them from overwhelming their mobile suit systems, _Hyperion_ was pretty much invincible... only until the battery within the mobile suit ran out.

“You better not have been fucking crying, Kira,” the biting, acerbic tone of his brother's stated words over a private channel made him jump slightly in his cockpit.

“I wasn't,” he automatically shot back, even though he saw two droplets of floating tears appear in front of his vision for a brief moment.

“You're a terrible liar,” Canard stated, though this time, there was absolutely no venom behind his words, as a moment later, he saw _Hyperion_ deactivate the shielding system and charge into the fray, weapons blazing.

“Athrun,” he said, after closing the private line to _Hyperion_ and keyed the channel to _Savior_. “Let's go kick some ass.”

“My thoughts exactly,” his friend answered.

Kira brought _Strike_ 's targeting system online, bypassing into the secured _Vanguard_ IFF channel to bring data directly into his weapons interface. It was a rough trajectory calculation and didn't have the entire targeting system of _Freedom_ or _Strike Freedom_ , but it was accurate enough. Targets acquired, he fired everything that he could – missiles and beam weaponry included. A multitude of colors lanced out from his mobile suit and sheared straight through a swarm of enemy mobile suits trying to protect five of the remaining thirteen ships.

Even before the explosions died, the beam plasma cannons from _Savior_ were fired and tore straight into two of the five ships, while _Buster_ 's cannon lanced into another. _Meridian_ and _Valkyrie_ opened another hole at the same time, allowing _Silverbird_ and _Minuteman_ to sink the final two. Eight enemy ships were left, and further explosions from what was left of the mobile armor squadrons whittled the enemy down a little further.

Even with the combined firepower and addition of _Hyperion_ , they were running out of weapons, power, and resources to throw at the enemy ships. Nicolai and Lacus's orders to the battle group certainly reflected that, and he could see the desperation from _Archangel_ and the other ships trying their best to stop incoming missiles from the remaining eight ships. He checked his batteries – the weapons drain had left him at about twenty percent, nearing critical. He only had his beam saber left--

“ _Strike_! Watch--” Nicolai's shout across the battle frequency to him was cut short.

At once, something hard slammed into him, violently shaking him around his cockpit as his harness dug into him to keep him from flying out of his seat. His screen was suddenly filled with a face full of a Zaku-Astray hybrid that had decloaked. Its lone singular glowing red eye seemed to briefly search out something before he heard the electronic hiss and snap over his coms. Damn his inattention – he had been ambushed when it was clear that enemy IFF signals from _Vanguard_ showed supposedly cloaked forces as clear as day.

Worse yet, a countdown popped up on his screen.

Immediately he pressed the buttons to withdraw his two Armor Schneider knives, since his beam sabre was locked against its holster from the death grip of the hybrid enemy mobile suit. The knives popped out of their housing and he snatched them up, jamming them into the sides of the hybrid's head. There was a brief spark and the grip on his mobile suit slackened slightly. Pushing the throttles to maximum as he mashed down his suit's pedals and tried to get away.

The explosion from the hybrid suit was not from what he had done, but rather, from a self-destructive trigger that had been enabled. He wasn't able to get far as another enemy mobile suit attacked from behind him. He dodged, just as his phase-shift armor went critical and deactivated. Triggering the explosive bolts on all of the additional weaponry that he and Canard had put on _Strike_ in a desperate attempt to get far from more enemy mobile suits that were trying to surround him, he thought he heard the garbled shout of Athrun through the hacked and ruined com system.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he tried to find some way to reactivate his mobile suit. The last he had seen, he was only at twenty percent – the technopaths must have done something to his OS to cause _Strike_ to shut down. Even though his fingers flew over the keyboard as he heard the enemy mobile suits closed in through the static and crackling noise in his com systems. He did not want to die here, yet he could not see out of his blank screen, as to what was happening.

He had no weapons left, no armor, and half of his mobile suit's left leg and arm had been sliced off just before he had lost power – he was a sitting duck.

~~~

“Kira!”

The ratty IFF signal from _Strike_ was even more worrying for Lacus as she looked on her screen to see several enemy mobile suits dive in for the kill. Even as fast as _Savior_ was in mobile armor mode, or _Sentinel_ , neither of the mobile suits would get there in time.

“Port Lohengrin, fire!” she heard Murrue shout, just as the crew saw two sickly blue-green beams from the enemy ship lanced out. The _Archangel_ 's single Lohengrin impacted a swarm of enemy mobile armors protecting the enemy ship, allowing the enemy's beams to continue straight at the cluster holding Kira in place.

~~~

Athrun saw the concentrated beams from the nearest enemy ship fly across space and straight into the cluster of enemy mobile suits. He had flown too far, too fast, forgetting for just one moment that Kira could not keep up with him and was not flying _Strike Freedom_. The cost of his momentary inattentiveness was this – Kira's mobile suit out of power and about to be destroyed from the enemy mobile suits holding him in place.

Or not.

A bright white spheroid bloomed just meters away from the cluster. _Hyperion_ had reactivated its shielding system, but unlike the single Lohengrin beam left from _Archangel_ , it seemed that the enemy ship's twin beam weaponry was a continuous stream of energy. Diving as he switched from mobile armor mode and back into mobile suit, he powered one of his beam sabres and dove into the cluster. _Sentinel_ was right on his tail and together, he and Lenore worked to cut and slice into each enemy mobile suit that had a death grip on _Strike_.

He heard a beeping warning as a small pop up indicated that he only had fifteen percent power left. Ignoring it, he continued to slice his way through the enemies as fast as he could – all the while the bright flare of _Hyperion_ 's shield preventing the continuous beams from impacting _Strike_ , blinded everything else.

“Go, get him out of there!” he heard his daughter say, as a small hole was carved into where _Strike_ was buried.

Reaching in as his com systems became incredibly ratty with a shower of static cascading across his ears, he punched a hole into the emergency release dial on the port-forward edge of _Strike_ 's cockpit. He could barely see it open up, but it was enough to squeeze a pilot out. Quickly powering down, depressurizing, and opening his own cockpit, he saw Kira scramble out of the ailing mobile suit. Releasing his harness, he floated to the edge of his cockpit and caught Kira by his arms, dragging him in. Quickly climbing back into his seat, he closed the cockpit and reactivated _Savior_.

Pulling away, he the com systems remained static-filled, as he declared, “I have him! Fall back!”

Pushing his engines to full, he shot out of the cluster, as he swiftly dodged and rolled up and away from what _Vanguard_ 's broadcasted IFF told him was several cloaked enemy mobile suits trying to surround him. A hundred meters to his left, Lenore was dancing around with her dual sabres, slicing up cloaked enemy reinforcements. Those reinforcements had most likely been flying in to assist in keeping Kira, along with he and Lenore, there. Drawing his sabre, he swiftly decapitated all five, just as he saw _Hyperion_ begin to move.

He took a very quick peek back to see Kira holding onto the top edge of his seat, with a grim but determined look on his face. A warning beeped, alerting him to the fact that he was at ten percent power – too close to the critical line. Yet _Hyperion_ was still moving, not back towards where _Strike_ was, but had its engines blazing with an enormous amount of power, while the Artemis shield system continued to flare brightly. The continuous beams streaming out of the enemy warship was still being fired – it was only a matter of time as to who would falter first: _Hyperion_ or the warship.

Those technopaths he and Lenore had not completely destroyed around _Strike_ were recovering and his IFF was telling him that they were headed directly for _Hyperion_. Before he could gun the engines to try to make another dent and give the pilot a chance to break free, he saw the spheroid around _Hyperion_ collapse into a hemisphere shell that protected only the front of the mobile suit. Engines on the mobile suit flared brightly as he saw _Hyperion_ charge.

“Have a fucking taste of your own medicine!” the pilot growled over battle com, just as _Hyperion_ plowed straight into the ship, reflecting the continuous beam right back onto it. The ship exploded in a rather spectacular fashion, and not a moment later, _Hyperion_ phase-shifted to inactive grey as well.

“Canard!” he heard Kira shout, just as _Savior_ 's power levels struck critical. All systems except for maneuvering thrusters and a single com channel were deactivated.

“Shit,” he cursed, trying to find someway to move – to at least get to where the _Archangel_ was. Thrusters certainly were not going to carry Kira and him out of harm's way, especially since he couldn't see a damn thing.

He glanced back at Kira, apologetic. “I'm sorry, Kira! I'm so sorry,” he said, shaking his head as his flight suit's internal com system squealed slightly in an attempt to connect to a broader network than the localized one between him and Kira. Neither of them would be getting out alive – not with what the fleet had left for mobile suits and armors that were severely critical in power as they had just been.

“It's all right,” he heard Kira calmly state, seeing resignation fill his eyes as he reached out with his right hand and clasped his left. “It's not your fault, Athrun. We--”

“ _Archangel_ fleet, fall back and recover your mobile suits and armors,” a very unexpected voice sounded over the one emergency com line _Savior_ had. “We got this.”

Athrun's eyes widened at the same time Kira's did as well. They certainly had not expected the Chief Representative of Orb to be showing up in this battle at all. The fact that Orb's leader was here and issuing orders to _Archangel_ and the other ships to fall back meant that the Alliance had finally arrived...

~~~

In the inky darkness of space, a brilliant multitude of beams and missiles sailed through vacuum, striking the remaining walls of the enemy. The combined fleets of Earth's various nations, OMNI, and ZAFT soared into the fight. They relieved the burden of the battle from the beleaguered _Archangel_ and her fleet of ships, mobile suits, and mobile armors.

Those closest to the mobile suits that had been deactivated due to the lack of power, carried their comrades back to safety. It didn't matter where the first wave was headed – Junk Guild, Serpent's Tail, _Hemingray_ , or _Archangel_ – what mattered was that they recover as many pilots as they could. It would all be sorted out later.

~~~

Kira climbed out of _Savior_ , following Athrun, and floated down towards the floor where a few mobile armors belonging to _Archangel_ and _Hemingray_ were landing. The mobile suits that were recovered and transported to _Archangel_ during their orders to fall back included _Savior_ , _Hyperion_ , and the damaged _Minuteman_ which had had both of its arms sheared off sometime during the battle. _Vanguard_ was also recovered, but that was mostly to keep the mobile suit active by using the ship's internal power so that they did not lose the valuable IFF data.

He saw members of the strike team helping the mobile armor pilots climb out, while maintenance crews were running various ordinances they could to the mobile armors. A couple of others had begun to set up a tactical board near the far end of the bay, patching in the battle com channel so that they could hear what was happening. The IFF from the still-active _Vanguard_ was being fed into the projected screen, though neither Nicolai or Yuki were in the mobile suit. They, like him and Athrun, had scrambled down to see what was happening, as the Alliance took command of the battle from the vanguard fleet.

_Archangel_ and the other three ships had been pulled from the front lines, relieved of their duties, but even as damaged as they were, the vanguard fleet were still on standby. Unfortunately, with limited resources at hand, there were not enough compatible mobile suit batteries on hand to swap between the various mobile suits they had. Even if the mechanics could find an interface to make sure each mobile suit could charge their current packs using the _Archangel_ 's generators, it would take a while for all mobile suits to reach full charge.

Kira paused for a moment as he looked up to see Canard floating near _Hyperion_ , still with a polarized faceplate, gesticulate a bit angrily to Chief Simmons. “Go on, Kira,” he heard Athrun say as he turned back to see that Athrun was also staring at the two, though with a slightly narrow-eyed look on his face. He knew that look all too well. “I need to talk to Chief Simmons as well. _Savior_ can still sortie,” Athrun continued.

“Athrun,” he began, before seeing out of the corner of his eyes, Nicolai and Yuki floating over to them.

“Dad,” he heard Nicolai say, having caught the end of their conversation, “please don't--”

“If you do, Athrun,” Kira gently interrupted his nephew from saying any more protesting and worried words, knowing that it was not what Athrun needed at the moment. “Good hunting. I'll be in the CIC.”

His friend silently nodded and turned to push off to go meet with Simmons without saying a word to Nicolai or Yuki. Kira placed reassuring hands on the shoulders of his nephew and son, saying, “Don't worry. He knows what he's doing. Stay here and help the crew reload. Reinforcements may be here, but we the battle is not over yet.”

* * *

_One hour later..._

 

It always made Athrun feel slightly odd to hear his own breath reflected in his ears through the silent and temporarily muted com systems. He considered it fortunate that Simmons had an older, salvaged battery pack with adapters that had been made for the rebuilt _Strike_. The adapters made it possible for the pack to interface with _Savior_ , though the capacity and length of his time in battle was greatly reduced. As he stomped out of the hangar and into the port launch rail of the ship, Kira's image popped up from _Archangel_ 's CIC. In the corner of the image though, he could see Lacus peeking in, looking a little worried.

“We're ready,” Kira stated. “Three ships left.”

“Copy,” he crisply answered. The less that was said over the coms, the better. He didn't know how compromised _Savior_ 's com system was by the technopaths when he had pulled Kira out of _Strike_. There had not been enough time between the battery swap to do a thorough check of the OS, but they were still able to make it work.

Transforming _Savior_ from mobile suit mode and into mobile armor mode, he hovered high above the launch tube for exactly twenty seconds before lowering _Savior_ down until he heard a ping echo throughout his cockpit. Activating the grapple, an alert popped up on his screen – he was grasped onto the shoulders of the invisible _Hyperion_. The mirage colloid that had originally been on _Savior_ , then was transferred to the shuttle bearing the Eurasian strike team, had now been integrated into the mobile suit below him.

It had taken some convincing of Captain Ramius to go forward with the plan, and allow he, Kira, and _Hyperion_ 's pilot, Canard Pars, to shunt and drain the entire power reserves for the sole remaining Lohengrin that the ship had. That power had been used to speed-charge _Hyperion_ to about fifty percent of its normal output. Though Athrun wished that there had been more power dumped into _Hyperion_ , they would have to do with what they had.

It would take an intricate amount of coordination between him, Kira, and Pars, to pull this particular maneuver off. Even with the allied reinforcements present and still fighting, the density of the technopaths protecting their ships remained thick. Of the remaining eight ships, the last he saw on the IFF board was that five had been destroyed. The final three were surrounded by an incredibly thick lattice of enemy mobile armors and suits spaced widely enough to not allow a cascade of explosions to take many of them out.

When he had first seen the pilot of _Hyperion_ arguing with Chief Simmons, that was also when this rather 'crazy' plan, as Kira, Lacus, and Captain Ramius had succinctly put it during the briefing, was thought up. Only Pars seemed to agree with the plan – which Athrun supposed was saying something about the Eurasian Janissary. The way Pars fought in a mobile suit was, in Athrun's opinion, dangerously reckless.

It was also during that hour that out of consideration for Kira, he had privately told him that he had figured out who the pilot of _Hyperion_ was, and the familial ties Pars had to Kira. He was sure that he had heard Kira shout 'Canard' just before _Savior_ had lost power, and remembered seeing a crew personnel list once before among the Junk Guild-Morgenroete station access manifest. A name, Canard Pars, had been listed in the authorized section.

“Launching!” he declared over com as the lights above winked clear and the invisible _Hyperion_ was rocketed forward on the launch rails, carrying _Savior_ with it.

As soon as they cleared the ship, Athrun immediately activated the phase-shift armor of _Savior_ , though at a diminished setting. Both he and the still-invisible _Hyperion_ would have to rely solely on speed to get through the initial enemy screens. He immediately flipped a few switches and shunted almost everything he could into the engines. Kira's steady murmur through the open com channel was the only thing that kept him grounded and steady as he made the barest of taps on his pedals to maneuver _Savior_ this way and that.

Because the density of the enemy forces was a variable that was dependent on where exactly the allied forces were trying to concentrate their firepower, the speed that Athrun needed in order to successfully 'throw' _Hyperion_ into the mass. It was his and the others' hope that _Hyperion_ and its Artemis shield would punch through all three ships to destroy the last of the technopaths from inside out. Too much speed and neither _Hyperion_ or _Savior_ would have what was left of their battery power to stop themselves – both would be flung out too far and too fast into the vastness of space. Too little, and _Hyperion_ would be trapped within the enemy forces with not enough power to keep the Artemis shielding system active.

There was also the location in which Athrun would release _Hyperion_ from _Savior_ 's grip, and that also necessitated the right amount of speed at that very moment. Kira was the key to making sure that this gamble worked. Using _Vanguard_ 's IFF and _Archangel_ 's weapons trajectory system, Kira was calculating and feeding real-time speed and release point data to _Savior_.

Athrun could see the data scrolling up where his IFF from _Vanguard_ used to be, but he knew that Kira had a habit of muttering whenever he was doing intense programming or calculations. Long ago, Athrun had determined that it was oddly relaxing to listen to Kira whenever he did that. It also gave him reassurance that whatever the outcome, his faith in his best friend would never be misplaced.

“Release point here,” he heard Kira finally say, seeing the small marker pop up on his mobile suit's HUD. “Speed uplink as well. The data is good for fifteen seconds.”

Fifteen seconds was short, but at the rate that _Savior_ was traveling while carrying _Hyperion_ , it was long. He near the speed in which Kira had indicated _Savior_ should be at, and flipped one more switch to drain the remaining life support he had to a quarter before toggling the com channel to _Hyperion_. “Release in five...four...three...two...one!”

A ping echoed throughout his cockpit as he immediately activated the grapple mechanism and released the Eurasian mobile suit. Yanking back both throttles to prevent himself from smashing into the mass of enemies, he saw that _Hyperion_ had immediately dropped the mirage colloid and activated its Artemis shield. It looked almost like a bright missile was streaking through the darkness of space, headed directly into the enemy fleet and mobile suits.

At exactly ten seconds, the first of an enormous cascade of explosions started to bloom across the enemy mobile suits. It was further compounded by the addition of several more explosions, internal to the lattice they had woven, as _Hyperion_ with its impenetrable shield plowed through them. Five seconds after the onset, that was when the first of the three ships also detonated. It was swiftly followed by the second and the final ship in the remaining enemy fleet.

As the energy released from the exploding ships hit their own mobile suits, the effect was instantaneous – a ring of fire bloomed out. Athrun could hear the cheers of the crew of the _Archangel_ over the com, including those that Kira's headset had picked up congratulating them on a job well done. He didn't key his com though, and instead, chose to listen. The heaviness in his heart seemed to lift as he caught a glimpse of _Vanguard_ 's IFF indicating that the last vestiges of the enemy were being chased down by the allied forces. He also saw that _Hyperion_ had successfully managed to stop itself after that incredible feat of flying.

That was also when his mobile suit's power finally coughed and winked out. As he sat in silence, with only the emergency com line open, he could only imagine what it was like on the ships – the cheering and the joy. Raising his right hand towards the chest of his flight suit where the coral necklace was resting against his collarbone, he held it there for a moment before lowering his hand back down. Taking a deep breath, he slowly let it out – allowing some of his worrying thoughts to be released with that one breath of relief.

A bittersweet smile quirked up his lips a moment later though. For thirteen years, he had been driven by his need to stop these people from destroying humanity. At the Battle of Heliopolis II, he thought he, along with Kira, Lacus, and the crew of the _Eternal_ had done just that. Now, even with the enemy thoroughly defeated, it did not feel like a victory worth celebrating.

The Coordinators' genetic research and lifeblood on the PLANTs had been destroyed. Would they be able to try to rebuild in peace without interference from Earth? A possible pandemic virus had been unleashed on Earth, and the cure was embedded within two chips that had been 'given' to him and Yelena Korsakoff. Was that all a lie or the truth? It seemed to him that even in death, those who experimented upon humanity had won.

It truly was an uncharted future that had risen from the ashes of their sundering.

 

~*~*~*~

 


	16. Epilogue: ...To A New Era

**Epilogue: ...To A New Era**

_C.E. 97, Six Months After the Battle of L4..._

 

“...bring you an update on the ongoing efforts of the cure being distributed...”

“There are still isolated pockets of resistance who will not accept that this virus was not caused by either Coordinators or Naturals...”

“...Canaver holding a summit with regards to the PLANTs...”

“It is election year for the Parliament of the Eurasian Federation...”

“...talks of possibly launching a joint operation to examine a recolonization of L4...”

~~~

Kira breathed in the salty-tinged air surrounding the archipelago nation of Orb. It had been a long while since he, along with Lacus, had returned here. There were newer buildings on the main island, but overall, it seemed like not a lot had changed. As he drove his wife down the slopes of the winding main road, he turned the rental car towards an offshoot road that was seldom used. Here, the palm fronds that lined the area rose high and above, providing shade to its travelers until they reached the end of it.

After the war against the technopaths had been won, it was during military assembly that he, along with his wife and Athrun, had revealed themselves to still be alive. Both he, along with the other two had been clearly heard over the battle com channel during the skirmish over L4. Thus, it was futile to keep their non-deaths a secret. However, the posthumous pardons had surprisingly remained, and now, the three of them and the crew of the _Eternal_ were free.

Gently braking the car as he approached the end of the road, he was slightly surprised to see that there was a rather glamorous black sports car parked near the gates of the hilltop cemetery. He knew from long ago that people did visit this cemetery, as it was open to the public, but it was not throngs of them. An occasional tourist did pop by here and there, on pilgrimage, but other than that, it was a quiet, peaceful place for the dead leaders of Orb to rest.

Getting out of the car, both he and Lacus, who was carrying the small bouquet of white lilies, entered the quiet place. They walked past old stones bearing the former leaders of Orb who had either died in office, passed away after retiring, or never had their bodies found and interred here. It was at the edge of the palm forest that Kira saw who exactly the black sports car belonged to.

“Athrun,” he called out, seeing his best friend sitting next to the stone marker that faced the ocean beyond the palm forest. On the front side, where Kira was facing, it bore the name of Cagalli, but Athrun was not sitting facing them – he was facing the ocean. There was also two small vases situated on either side of the stone marker; one filled with a single red rose, the other, which Kira usually filled with the lilies, was already filled with a single sunflower.

He saw Athrun turn around from where he was sitting, a slight smile on his face as he got up from the ground. “Kira,” Athrun greeted. “Lacus.”

“Are you all right, Athrun?” Lacus gently asked as they stopped before the grave.

“I am,” Athrun answered, nodding, though Kira noticed that he tried hard to hide the pain in his eyes. It was the anniversary of Cagalli's death fourteen years ago. A week ago, was the Junius 7 Memorial Day, but none of them had attended the ceremony – preferring to keep to themselves for just this one year and allow things to continue to settle in the aftermath of the recent end of the war.

“Who brought the sunflower?” he asked as he took the lilies from Lacus and gently placed them horizontally across the lower step of the stone marker.

“I don't know,” Athrun admitted as Kira stood back up. “The entire grave site was also cleaned when I got here.”

Deciding to leave the matter alone for now, the three of them gathered around Cagalli's grave and silently stood together for a few moments. They then bowed three times as silent prayers and thoughts were sent in the aftermath. Standing in silence once they were done with paying their respects, Kira could not help but faintly smile at just how brightly happy Cagalli's grave looked. Between the red rose, white lilies, and the bright sunflower, he could only imagine that his sister was smiling down at them.

“Sun... flower,” Lacus softly began, as Kira saw her frown slightly before her face brightened in realization. “Helianthus.”

“Helianthus?” Kira repeated, but then it hit him and he could not help but blink in surprise as he caught Athrun's mild look of surprise as well. “Hyperion.”

He was touched at the fact that his brother had recently visited Cagalli's grave site. Canard had promptly disappeared back into the folds of the Junk Guild as soon as it was determined that the technopaths were no longer a threat, and Kira did not attempt to contact him. There was a mutual, unsaid understanding between them that this L4 war was a hopefully one-and-done deal. Oddly enough, in the days after the war, he found that he missed his brother's rather harsh remarks and jabs at him, but he still did not attempt to contact Canard. That chapter of his life, the Ultimate Coordinator Project and the horrific clones that came with the cost of that, was done.

In the aftermath, he had also apologized to both Athrun and Lacus for keeping the fact that there was one other survivor of the Project from them. It was Athrun who had reassured him that neither of them were angry for what he had done – knowing that it was already difficult enough as is, for what they had all been through. He was extremely grateful for their support and understanding. It was also agreed upon by the three of them that none of the children would be told about Canard – it would needlessly complicate things that did not need to be complicated in their already convoluted lives.

A faint smile quirked up the edges of his lips as he glanced over at the sunflower, rose, and lilies again. Before he could briefly sink into a reverie, the sudden wail of a siren pierced the peaceful silence. At once, a shot of dread crawled through his spine and sunk into his stomach – he had not heard that siren wail in fourteen years; the last time being when the previous leader of Orb had been assassinated.

“That siren,” Athrun began, horror etched on his face that was swiftly turned into anger. “On **this** very day--”

“They wouldn't sound it, unless...” Lacus began, looking extremely worried. The wailing of the siren was a call to arms for guardsmen to keep what remained of their leaders safe. It was never used in drill or anything else--

“Unless Chief Representative Seiran has been assassinated,” Kira grimly concluded.

 

~*~*~*~

 

FINI

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What started out as a sequel to play around with a few more concepts that I wanted to toss and throw into other fanfics and original works came together rather nicely. I admit, this isn't the most fluid of my works, and while I did concentrate mostly on Kira, Athrun, Lacus, Cagalli (in flashbacks only), and Canard, it was interesting to see how they reacted and behaved in this story. I suppose that I could have expanded on the POV of the children, but the primary focus has always been on Athrun and/or Kira for the stories in the FAITH's Edge series.
> 
> With regards to the flashbacks - they were also quite enjoyable to write, and I do have future plans to expand on one or two of them. For now, I have a tentative third story in the works, but it has not yet been completely outlined just yet. I do hope to focus on Canard and Kira in that story, but we'll see.
> 
> Thank you for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos!


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